Impunity from Lack of Immunity
On the first day of lecture, my dear, sweet professor / Had fallen ill with a case of the flu.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
The George Washington University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Eleanor is a rising first-year medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. With a passion for global and public health, she has lived and worked abroad in Haiti and Uganda for a total of six months over the course of her undergraduate career at St. Bonaventure University.
Name Tag
There is pain on her face. / I’m walking on the busy sidewalk, / I don’t know her.
Leave of Absence: A Gift in Disguise
Tears rushed down my face / like the initial gush of water / spurting from a faucet
Superficial Separations Meet Surgical Reflections
Open. / Open abdomens. / Idealized organs from Netter’s in the flesh.
Elysium and Hades from My Backyard
Soon, / There / Will be / A true cure.
Anatomical Theater
In the theater I saw you, / white coat and big eyes.
The Line
I have stood on both sides of the line– / The line between mother and medic; / The line between parent and practitioner.
your heart has four chambers, is there room for me?
time, / its lifespan ceases to exist / as the gold warmth of your hazel eyes surround me
Ensconced in His Throne Upon the Sea
I strode down hallways, winding ‘round to meet / A sailor old and take to him his meal. / A gentle bounce in every step on beat, / This home to many always builds my zeal.
Five Inestimable Pounds
A canvas / Of delicately oiled / Skin, stretched taut
Last and First Days
Was it a fall? Did I miss the last step? These things I cannot recall / Hidden from sight, the blood crept from one lone vessel and began to compress / Nice to meet you, one medical student said, as he unzipped my sheath
two slides
after three years go by / you appear on two slides / in a lecture / on motor neuron disease
Medical Student Editor and Contributing Writer
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Slavena Salve Nissan moved to Brooklyn, New York from Baku, Azerbaijan when she was 6-years-old and comes from an ethnic minority known as the Mountain Jews. She graduated with a major in biology from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College in 2015 and after graduation, worked as a medical receptionist. She’s currently a fourth year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she’s continuing to explore the intricacies of her two passions: healthcare and the arts.