Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Nandini is a fourth year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland Class of 2023. In 2019, she graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience. She enjoys dancing, knitting, and traveling in her free time. After graduating medical school, Nandini will be pursuing a career in OB/GYN. She is an Aseemkala choreography fellow as part of the Aseemkala Initiative.
Dance has always been a medium for me to express my emotions. It makes me feel alive and helps me process my experiences, including that with imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome has been described as feelings of self-doubt, especially in high achieving people
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m just a med student. The rest of the team will be here shortly, they’ll explain everything to you.” We wait in silence.
His diseased lungs / stiff like dry clay / function like gills out of the water.
she is curled on her side like a child / eyes closed, back exposed.
Physicians give their heart and soul to the practice of medicine. Caring for patients at their most vulnerable moments is a heavy responsibility and privilege that medical professionals must carry.
Dying is not / as romantic as I once thought. / I think you always knew this.
This is a reimagination of anatomy from the outside in.
Our successes are born out of / The communities that uplifted us. / The teachers that pushed us.
The intruder slithers in at midnight, / slinking his way to the boy fast asleep, / the tangled mess of hospital wires his field of untrimmed grass,
As I step carefully into the sterile field / past the rows of scalpels, forceps and clamps, / I sense a gentle fluttering in my chest.
Should the symbol of medicine bear one snake or two? / If you answered two, then the joke is on you! / Or, at least, that’s the current popular view.
I imagine her mother / Squeezing daughter’s limp hand / Silent tears
Contributing Writer
Emory University School of Medicine
Cally is a fourth-year medical student at the Emory University School of Medicine who is applying into Ob/Gyn in the 2022-2023 cycle. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. Her interests include climate change and environmental health, the relationship between language and culture, and reproductive justice.
