Off the Shelf

Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.

Rohit Mukherjee Rohit Mukherjee (6 Posts)

Writer-in-Training

Drexel University College of Medicine


Rohit is a second year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine. He graduated from Georgetown University in 2012, and then went on to teach reading to elementary school students for two years. After teaching, he worked in health policy for a year, and then matriculated to medical school. Currently, he is pursuing an MD/MPH degree and hopes to work in community health and harm reduction. He is passionate about health equity, LGBTQ rights, and racial justice. By far, his greatest skill is reciting lines from Pixar’s Up.




The Favorite Pasttime (2016)

The life of a medical student can be quite isolating at times. In many ways, the struggle to become competent and knowledgeable on the wards becomes so all-consuming that it is so easy to become one-dimensional. After long hours during the day trying to keep up with the fast-paced schedules of the hospital, we return home with more studying and brushing up to do so that we may be ready for another day of endless learning. It is one simple task — to learn as much as we can — but it is one that can seem too much at times.

Anatomy as Art: Installation #13

At Albany Medical College, upon our orientation to gross anatomy, we are asked to draw our feelings on blank index cards prior to entering the cadaver laboratory. As we progress through the year, our sentiments regarding anatomy may remain the same, or may change, and these drawings allow us to look back at this milestone we crossed as budding medical students.

Herbert Rosenbaum Herbert Rosenbaum (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer

University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix Family Medicine Residency Program


Herbert B. Rosenbaum, M.D., is a proud native of San Antonio, Texas, an alumnus of The George Washington University, graduate of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and resident physician at University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix Family Medicine Residency Program. His medical interests include family medicine, primary care, geriatric medicine, medical politics, and end-of-life management. Dr. Rosenbaum urges his physician and medical student readers to start meaningfully addressing the elephant in the room (and perhaps American medical culture's biggest failure): death and dying - a common subject of many of his creative works and critical essays.