Divinity
There is a straight line from / ordering an ultrasound to obtaining / clear cylinders of red blood cells.
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
Harvard Medical School
Ellen Zhang is a Harvard Medical Student who is passionate about using writing as a lens to unravel the complexity of medicine, enhance empathy, and provide humanistic care. She enjoys hiking, baking, and exploring local cafes.
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
Doing
Deadlines rush on, relentlessly. / Another email signed, / “Best regards.”
DVTs
Studying blood clots / While I sit for hours on end / Affixing my own.
You
You’ve taken everything / Nothing is left
Circle of Life
Screams. Tears. Despair. / A sense of sadness in the atmosphere.
A Clinical Outing
The hospital room is / fair, square, sterile — / by its vapid / medical posters / and lusterless hospital tools.
Relief
Tears for the dead, tears for the living / who persist in this world that is so unforgiving
Forgive Me
In my white coat, / I ask for forgiveness. / Forgive me, / to the weary homeless man
Contributing Writer
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Qiang Zhang is a first year medical student at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in LA, CA class of 2025. In 2019, she graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. She enjoys yoga, playing music, and reading books in her free time. After graduating medical school in 2025, Qiang would like to pursue a career in Internal Medicine.