In My Place
Congratulations, you finally made it! / You pushed past when you wanted to quit. / White coat in hand, smile on your face, / I’m sorry to tell you that medicine will put you in your place.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
Texas Tech Health Sciences Center
Alexia Jauregui is a third-year medical student at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas class of 2021. In 2016, she graduated from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley with a Bachelor of Science in biology. After graduating medical school, Alexia is passionate about ultimately serving a border community as a Med-Peds-trained primary care physician.
Thick Skin
They say to be tough is to have thick skin, but I say to have thick tears. / Skin? It can collect pimples, papercuts, and pus, can be scratched, scraped, and sliced.
Head in Our Hands
Take him to the ICU, / Now. / Trauma, Level 1, coming from just outside of triage.
Death Reel
The doctor motioned to sit, turned a chair / to face the monitor. A perfectly lovely office. / Natural light from the barren window / gathered in circles around my feet.
The Infinite
Blue latex feels slick against / my hands. I grip my instrument tightly, / surprised breath escaping me as / the scalpel quickly reveals
Riddle
It does not grace your ears, / but you can hear it. / It does not touch your skin, / but you feel its pull. / It can’t be seen or read / but nonetheless, it guides you.
Your Body
Your body lay on the table, wrapped in shrouds / while robed students gathered around, / Your body lay on the table, skin leathery and strong, / I imagined what stories it bore, what paths it traveled along.
Impact of a Cadaver
Gloves first, then scalpel blades gathered, / instructor books and an atlas. / What yearning and churning my mind feels, / unsure what learning to expect.
first death
After hours of struggle, noise, / knife and clamp and lung flapping wetly / like a broken bird wing in an open chest, / there is this part, the dismantling.
first code
“We kept him alive to let his family say goodbye, / and sometimes that’s the biggest victory.”
Two Beds
Motionless, a man awakes from his stupor of heart. Relief from sharpness, the pooling and swelling.
The Streets of Sarajevo
Red blood flows, red lights flash, / Down the streets of Sarajevo. / I wonder which will win today: / Hermes’ staff or Ares’ spear?
Contributing Writer
University of Texas Medical Branch
Justin is a third year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX, class of 2021. In 2013, he graduated from Drury University with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and biology. He enjoys reading, coffee and baseball in his free time. In the future, Justin would like to pursue a career in anesthesiology.