Waves
I first met you at age 13. / You hid behind a / camouflage of naivety.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Welcome to in-Training, the online peer-reviewed publication for medical students. Please contact us at editorinchief@in-training.org with any questions or concerns.
Dreams Versus Reality
My balance beam within the clouds / Seems lost amongst the starry night / As dreams and thoughts blur vision to / The reality of my true plight.
I’ve Heard This Before
I’ve heard this before, / This insidious pain you describe, / That grinds and gnaws / Diffusely below the stomach
Body Field Meets Sterile Field (2017)
Where the consciousness floats into the medicine / Where the sacred meets the metal / Where the steel cuts the energy field
For Some of Us, Medicine is Still a Sacred Calling
We were called out. From the darkness, we came. Like a deer in the black morning, we arose in that witching hour before the sun obliterates the fog to begin our walk on that narrow path.
First Look Through An Ophthalmoscope
I approach the translucent window, / a milky opacity locking tight its hinges. / Vainly I press forward, reaching / for the soft sill on which to rest my hand.
The Supremacy of the Scalpel
We wield the privilege of the scalpel, / Slice skin, / Cauterize the cutaneous, / Disrobe the depths of disease.
A Condition of the Heart
It’s 1 a.m., everyone’s running on three cups of coffee / When a man stumbles through the entrance / And I could hear whispers of / It’s him, the homeless man, back in the ER again
Runway
The first thing she noticed, / Was her heart fluttering off and on, / The doctor saw her pale, / And iron pills were called upon.
first year
new introduction / my name is… / and i’m a med student
Bedside Bidding
Never grow old she says, / As the IV beeps and her SCDs hum. / Enjoy your youth she says, / As her body creaks and her fingers drum.
palpate
you almost died today. / you almost brought yourself back to life / knowing another heart, too, / makes warmth between your breasts.
Medical Student Editor
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Elaine is a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco with interests in LGBTQ health and rad medicine for the underserved. She graduated from Brown University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in health and human biology. In a dream life she would probably spend her days watching corgi videos, learning languages, and putting together an anthology of poems titled, "where have you been?"
