Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Writer-in-Training
Queen's University School of Medicine
Maggie Hulbert is a third year medical student at Queen's University School of Medicine in Kingston, Canada. In 2015, she graduated from Queen's University with a Bachelor of Science in life sciences. She is an active member of the medical humanities community and spent this past year developing the first Jacalyn Duffin Health and Humanities Conference. Her favorite writers include Danielle Ofri, Roxane Gay, and Samantha Irby. After graduating medical school, Maggie would like to pursue a career in Psychiatry.
And now here she was, in the family lounge at a hospital waiting to speak to her father’s neurologist. Her dad, Ricky, had collapsed at work — or so she had been told. This was the most she had heard of her father’s life since she moved out of the house.
They say you’re at the top of the class / I say I’m barely able to pass
Dr. Goodly saw patients on Thanksgiving every year. Wasn’t that the whole point of the holiday?
One thing bothers me: / Books are most of what we see. / Doctor-patient relationship — / Only mentioned in them, flip by flip.
Just a glance of you was enough; / Rapid serotonin surge giving me great triumph. / Did my heart just skip a beat? / Giving me a premature contractile treat.
I know better. / I know nothing, and I am useless. / So don’t throw words at me insinuating that / I am knowledgeable.
If there is an accident / And you find me / Don’t leave me / But hold my hand / Because I am scared
Time for empathy. / Time for empathy? / Collect a complete psychiatric history. / Plus, medical history with dates of diagnosis and current medications.
My heart is not a lacy valentine. / It is an anatomic pump / Engineered evolution / Strong walls of long runs
I dreamed of you when I was young / Open wide, stick out your tongue / A degree instead of a strong, young man . A future with stethoscopes was my plan
I wage war on you for you have let my eyes see; / I respect you, for you hold true to your decree. / But, I fight for those who lost purpose to your creed.
Am I crazy? / I walk down the street and my ears fill with noises / And sometimes I run until my vision gets hazy.
Contributing Writer
UC Riverside School of Medicine
Lisa is a fourth year medical student at UC Riverside. She completed her bachelor's degree at UC Santa Barbara in biopsychology with a minor in English. She enjoys hiking, backcountry camping, and cooking plant-based meals.
