My Mask
We all earn our way here / Paid in hours of studying / and minutes of fun lost.
Poetry Thursdays
Poetry Thursdays is our initiative to highlight poetry and prose by medical students, with a new post every Thursday. If you are interested in contributing or would like to learn more, please contact our editors.
Contributing Writer
West Virginia Medical School
Amy Schattel is a second year medical student at West Virginia Medical School. She attended Wheeling Jesuit and the University College Cork for her undergraduate education. Her passions include physician/student wellness, culinary and lifestyle medicine, advocacy, and of course---writing. When she's not watching a Sketchy video for the fourth time, she can be found curled up with a good book and her regally fluffy cat, Rembrandt.
Impostor or Two Sides of the Same Coin?
“Eager and enthusiastic” / As I drag myself from bed. / “Positive energy” / Do you have an injury to your head?
A Crab in the Swell
I float in an ocean of sterile cerulean. / In this deep of drapery and gowns, / One could swim out and never see the shore.
Conjunction
I am waiting for my coffee when / a middle-aged Turkish man / asks if I am a medical student
Just a Few Minutes Before 6 A.M. Rounds
5:37 a.m. in hospital scrubs / Just a few minutes with each patient.
They Say, I Say
They say you’re at the top of the class / I say I’m barely able to pass
If I Could
One thing bothers me: / Books are most of what we see. / Doctor-patient relationship — / Only mentioned in them, flip by flip.
My Heart Skipped a Beat
Just a glance of you was enough; / Rapid serotonin surge giving me great triumph. / Did my heart just skip a beat? / Giving me a premature contractile treat.
Forced Perspective
I know better. / I know nothing, and I am useless. / So don’t throw words at me insinuating that / I am knowledgeable.
If You Find Me
If there is an accident / And you find me / Don’t leave me / But hold my hand / Because I am scared
Constraints
Time for empathy. / Time for empathy? / Collect a complete psychiatric history. / Plus, medical history with dates of diagnosis and current medications.
A Heart
My heart is not a lacy valentine. / It is an anatomic pump / Engineered evolution / Strong walls of long runs
Writer-in-Training
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Hillary is a member of the MD Class of 2020 at University of Massachusetts. She received her BA in Neuroscience from Oberlin College and is interested in the intersection of art and medicine. In addition to writing, she also enjoys creating medically inspired paper art and has had pieces published in "Intima" and "Pulse."