Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
Albany Medical College
Andrew is a second year medical student at Albany Medical College in Albany, NY class of 2024. In 2020, he graduated from Siena College with a Bachelor of Arts in biology. He enjoys going to galleries and museums in his free time. In the future, Andrew would like to pursue a career in psychiatry.
This ekphrastic work begins with the creation of the poem. I drew inspiration from not only my standardized patient interactions but also my own perspective in life. It is often easy to go into a patient interaction with the perspective of “something is wrong with the patient.”
This piece depicts placenta and umbilical cord. The title refers to the stages of labor; stage 3 marks the separation of the placenta and umbilical cord from the uterus.
I made this heart in an undergraduate sculpture class, dreaming of the day I would finally don my own white coat. A year later, it now sits on my desk in the exact line of sight I take each day as I peer above my computer screen, with my stethoscope draped around the base and my Gray’s Anatomy book perched next to it.
As we progressed through our other coursework simultaneously, this course seemed to synthesize it all, impressing upon us the weighty responsibility of becoming a future health provider. This piece, entitled “The Practice of My Art,” is a collage of illustrations I drew throughout the year reflecting on different courses, organ systems, or learning experiences from my first year of medical school.
This painting is a reflection on my first month of inpatient medicine as a third-year medical student during the peak of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I was deep into my pre-clinical courses as a first-year medical student and struggling to carve out time for the other things I loved in this world, like hiking. This image was taken on a hike on one chilly October day when I finally managed to get away and hike a local trail.
This is a portrait of my friend and fellow medical school classmate, Brandon. His smile reflects the joy that comes with finding one’s purpose and understanding that one can benefit others through medical learning.
The goal of this image is to make light of the traditional idea of art as something deep and profound. Art can be funny too, and this cartoon-ish piece makes art out of the mundane and somewhat gross experience of blowing one’s nose.
This is a portrait of my friend and medical school classmate stylized as ‘caput medusae,’ or ‘head of Medusa.’ However, instead of snakes coming out of her head there are just gummy worms.
This painting, utilizing oil and acrylic paints, was made in the midst of studying for my ongoing classes and boards. There have been a couple diseases that have stuck with me throughout my studies. One of them is type 1 achalasia from the GI block I did recently.
March 13, 2020. A date engraved in many of our minds. The day the President declared a National Emergency concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak.
What if I could see the emotions that flood my patient’s mind? What if I could know how much space anger, frustration, joy, sorrow, hope took up in their mind’s real estate?
Contributing Writer
Medical College of Wisconsin
Sarah is a third year medical student at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin class of 2023. In 2019, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in both biochemistry and Spanish language. She enjoys spending time with her husband Ben, creating artwork, and practicing pilates in her free time. After graduating from medical school, Sarah would like to pursue a career in orthopaedic surgery.
