Twelve Weeks
Dr. Perkins explained to Elizabeth that she had three options: continue with the pregnancy and parent the child, continue with the pregnancy and pursue adoption, or discontinue the pregnancy and have an abortion.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Writer-in-Training
Emory University School of Medicine
Christopher is a second year medical student at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He grew up in Virginia where he earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology at the College of William and Mary in 2014. Prior to medical school, he spent time working as a surgery scheduler in Seattle and enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest. He enjoys hiking, playing guitar, and bicycle commuting. After medical school, Christopher would like to pursue a career in primary care or palliative medicine.
There Is No Sound
There is no sound / like that of a heart breaking.
Yours Sincerely
This house was once full of life / Layers of warmth and affection. / A fireplace, the heart of all
Women With Notebooks
If you come into the hospital room before she arrives, you might miss the telltale signs of her existence. They are subtle — a soft sweater thrown over a chair for those drafty hospital wards or an absurdly expensive vegetable tray from the café downstairs on the patient’s table.
Arrhythmia
Hearts that beat, / Turn into hearts that don’t.
Medicine is a March
Medicine is a march, but it’s not like Sherman’s to the sea. You don’t burn what you leave, and the sea is always just beyond the next hill.
Broken
A few winters ago, you called me after a ski accident and announced / “I have fractured my tibial plate.”
Stages of Grief
I had felt strange during the week leading up to the last ultrasound. Pregnancy is a roller coaster of sensations, but that week had been off a little. I barely noticed the ultrasound tech rubbing the cold, blue gel on my massive belly. I wanted to hear that sound: that quiet, pulsing sound of my baby racing to be born.
The Tomato Plant
We work in a hospital / Faithfully / Like the tomato plant / Serving a garden community
I Dream Ahead
Draped the head and steadied the bed / For the life-saving aneurysm clipping, / I stop thinking of my former life.
Anatomy of Love
Your Smile / Wrinkles, / Where my jokes weren’t funny.
Bun
Filled with fear and pain but love and hate / To raise it alone since he never agreed
Pre-Medical Guest Writer
Rutgers University
Elo is a senior at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She is earning a major in biology and a minor in creative writing and aspires to attend medical school after she graduates. Elo is a teaching assistant in the physics department and co-founded the first undergraduate lifestyle medicine interest group in the region. She spends most of her spare time immersed in the arts including writing and painting. She writes because it's how she best expresses herself. It's not a hobby; it's a lifestyle.