Operating Room
As I step carefully into the sterile field / past the rows of scalpels, forceps and clamps, / I sense a gentle fluttering in my chest.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Bo is a fourth year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH class of 2024. In 2018, Bo graduated from Dartmouth with a Bachelor's degree in psychology, then pursued a Master's in global health at UCSF. Bo enjoys running, hiking, and volunteering in her free time. Bo would like to pursue a career in internal medicine and geriatrics.
Caduceus
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.
Trauma Shift
I imagine her mother / Squeezing daughter’s limp hand / Silent tears
Anatomy: A Cadaveric Poem
Anatomy is more than flesh and bone and blood. / It’s more than the donor and the scalpel teaching the student.
HPI
good morning, i’m the medical student / i must ask how you are feeling / even though my eyes already sting
Borborygmi
Borborygmi: Rumbling or gurgling noises made by the movement of fluid and gas in the intestines.
Scan to Scan
A fog of emotions blankets the waiting room / Stress and anxiety, with some impending doom.
Divinity
There is a straight line from / ordering an ultrasound to obtaining / clear cylinders of red blood cells.
Everytown
Every town — / We’ll say it could be any town, / until it has affected every town
Growth
It’s amazing how in three years / How much you grow / As a person
A Lifetime Student of Medicine
Where do I begin? / Skimming her list of diagnoses, my eyes are drawn to her pancreatic cancer. / Confused, I glanced back at her age / I was not mistaken, she just turned 49.
American Pride
American pride — from our pride we should hide, / for it’s caused us to hate, despise, and decry
Contributing Writer
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Melissa Huddleston is a fourth-year medical student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas class of 2023. In 2016, she graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Science in informatics and a secondary major in classics. In 2018, she graduated from Baylor University with a Master of Public Health in community health education. She enjoys hiking, jumping rope, and reading. After graduating from medical school, Melissa would like to pursue a career in pediatrics.