Contributing Writer
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Samantha is a third year MD PhD student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. In 2013, she graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Science in animal science. She enjoys reading, racing marathons, and drinking coffee in her free time. After graduating medical school, Samantha would like to pursue a career in Internal Medicine.
Although I’ve spent only a mere two and a half years as a student in this world of medical education, it’s readily apparent that I fit into very few of the “typical medical student” patterns. I’m part of a small cohort of dual degree students. I’m nontraditional, having never considered becoming a physician until after I graduated from college in 2013. And I am a disabled woman.
Hybrid species, known collectively as chimeras from the eponymous ancient Greek myth of a lion-goat hybrid, arose from the wellspring of human imagination and creativity. With modern advancements in biotechnology, however, chimeras of a sort are less a myth and more of a reality.
Just as our vernacular has embraced the language of food to describe people, so too has the medical community used such language to describe disease.
I was sitting in on a patient visit with the attending physician and a senior medical student, and I could tell that both of them were trying to guide him back on track as gently as possible.
A recent publication in the Journal of Neurology caused significant outrage not only within a forum dedicated to Black doctors and trainees, but also in the medical community online at large. Much like the rest of the readers, I was deeply troubled and did not understand the purpose of the article.
She put down her drink, the corners of her mouth dropped slightly. “Oh, so a Caribbean medical school. What happened? You couldn’t get into a U.S. school?”
When contemplating a career in medicine as either a nurse practitioner (NP), physician assistant (PA) or physician, I entered unwittingly into a landmine of opinions tainted with undertones of interprofessional resentment.
Do-it-yourself (DIY) medicine is particularly appealing to those who wish to take their health into their own hands and remove costly, time-consuming physicians from the equation. Crucial, however, is the fact that these companies are independently run and thus are not regulated by any governing scientific body.
The news as of late reflects the dystopian status of present-day health care. Numerous states have stripped away fundamental reproductive rights by criminalizing abortion with ruthless disregard for anyone capable of becoming pregnant.
In 2006, India Arie released a self-empowering song called “I am not my hair.” For women of color, this song became an anthem that empowered and permitted a level of self-identity that challenged societal norms.
Medical schools have an interest in advocating that their medical students pursue research in order to prepare them for careers in academia.
My former pediatrician always had the brightest smile. She was an effervescent “people-person.” Between her and episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, I always thought that all physicians were outgoing butterflies flapping back and forth between patients and their vibrant social lives. Physicians are usually depicted as extroverts, and medicine a profession of the people.
Writer-in-Training
Warren Alpert Medical School
Jeffrey Lam is a second year medical student at Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island. Jeff was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. In 2016, he earned his Bachelor of Science in health and human biology from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Jeff's senior thesis focused on the intersection between positive psychology and public health. Before medical school, Jeff worked on public health research in Hanoi, Vietnam. In his free time, Jeff enjoys thinking, lifting heavy things, having good conversations, dabbling in new hobbies, and learning about himself and the world. After medical school, Jeff would like to pursue a career in internal medicine or psychiatry.
