My White Coat
Egg shell coat: / Tread softly, / Quietly. / To not crack the illusion / Of knowledge, / Bold aspirations.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
University of Kansas School of Medicine
Class of 2017 medical student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
Beacons of Hope (2015)
The roses portrayed in this photograph represent a new generation, with a brighter vision and new hope for a more prosperous future. They illustrate the ideas of innovation within the realm of medicine, technology and science. These two lone creatures, with their majestic scarlet petals, shine brightly as beacons of industrialization for the advancement of our society to the 21st century.
From My Hospital Bed
Where do the squirrels go / during the rain? / Can they hear the thunder? / Can they feel my pain?
Electric Heart (2015)
The beating heart is autonomous, having its own electric circuit to stimulate each contraction. Throughout the ages, the mystery of the heart has symbolized love and life in art and religion. Although this pulsing muscle has been highly studied by scientists, doctors and medical students across the world — dissected and scrutinized to the smallest detail — the aesthetic and metaphorical power of the human heart remains unchallenged.
An Exploration of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Disease from the Patient’s Perspective
The role of a medical caregiver is often daunting. While balancing multifaceted skill sets such as understanding of pathophysiology, proper application of clinical skills, minimizing health care costs, physicians must also maintain the primary goal of empathetic and supportive care for each patient. It is thus sometimes inevitable for physicians, medical students, or any other health care professionals to get caught up in any one of these pursuits and neglect another.
Memoirs of a Machine
I cut where I am told, my arms moving with mechanical precision, / Following imaginary lines running throughout the body.
The Grapes of Breath (2015)
My inspiration for this piece stemmed from my experience working on the pulmonology service during my internal medicine rotation. I was moved by the vitality of our bodies and the organs that allow us to function. The lungs are one of the few organs that directly associate with the outside environment. Everything we breathe becomes part of our body, and as much as our body and respiratory epithelium can filter the air we breathe, it is not a perfect system. As a result, we breathe the world around us.
Cutting
Everyone / in this cold / room is dead.
Anatomy as Art: Installation #1
For the majority of medical students, gross anatomy is the first time that we observe and cut into the flesh of preserved cadavers. Whether it is through a longitudinal year-round program or a semester’s worth of concentrated anatomy, most of us develop a unique relationship with the cadaver gifted to us by generous donors.
When You Come to Me: Baltimore 2015
If you came to me then, / I might have smeared salve / into the keloid stripes / ripped into your back
From Hospice to Heaven
To my dearest dying patient: / May I emulate half your strength, / and a portion of your wisdom, / just a part of your life’s length.
Dave
I am worried. I am worried because of what Lungs told me. I have been friends with Lungs a long time and he would not lie to me. “Big Brain is trying to kill us.” This is what Lungs said. I do not want to believe it, but Big Brain is smart and bad. There was one time Big Brain made Man jump out of an airplane.
Medical Student Editor
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Daniel graduated from Tufts University in 2004. His subsequent pursuits included everything from cell cycle research to manufacturing shampoo. Medically, his interests lie in emergency and wilderness medicine, infectious disease, and health care sustainability. Daniel is medical student at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, Class of 2017.