Contributing Writer
University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson
Claire is a medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson in the class of 2027. In 2022, she graduated from Arizona State University's Barrett, the Honors College with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in Mathematics. In her free time, she enjoys running, road cycling, and baking.
For most of my life, I never truly understood what it meant to be a doctor. As the first in my family to pursue medicine, my understanding of healthcare was shaped by occasional doctor visits and, admittedly, unrealistic portrayals on TV. Like many other students in this position, I was naïve about what the profession would entail. I began my undergraduate journey as a chemical engineering major, drawn to its problem-solving aspects. I soon realized, …
I walked up the stairs in my heels, white coat and stethoscope, which I had no idea how to use, on the first day of my first clinical day two weeks into medical school. The question of whether I belonged in a position of authority felt more prominent than ever as patients in the lobby passively asked me about their treatments and I waited for the staff to return from their lunch break. I told …
I have always been taught to treat the patient and not the disease. As a first-year medical student, I am not sure I know how to treat either yet, but I know that putting a face to a disease is crucial to my training as a physician. I have always been intrigued by human stories in medicine that involve difficult and often stressful conversations because they have a tendency to become flashbulb memories that impact …
Moving to Arizona for an eight-year dual-degree MD/PhD program was one of the biggest, and reflecting back, best decisions I had ever made. Though at the time, it truly felt like the scariest commitment of my life.
Oh God, what time is it? I stumbled over to my bedside table in pitch-black darkness, thanks to my new blackout curtains, which continue to be the best financial decision I have ever made, and checked my phone that was blasting my alarm.
“Your time starts now. You may begin your examination.” These were the words said moments before a life-altering moment during my high school years.
“How’d you land in medical school?” Whenever someone asks me this, a family of frogs almost always immediately hatches in my throat. My long-winded journey itself doesn’t jerk tears, but the question always reminds me of the day I applied. The same word, like clockwork upon the inquiry, flashes from my heart like it’s a bat signal. “Widowmaker.”
It was just like any other screening visit and I had already organized the clinical trial documents in preparation for the patient’s arrival. The moment that the electronic medical record refreshed to show that our 9 a.m. patient arrived, I knew it was my cue.
The clock strikes 12, and there is silence. My apartment from the street appears to be dark, but the light in my room is on; I am wide awake with my best friend.
In his 2019 Netflix Special, comedian Ronnie Chieng made some of the most astute (and hilarious) observations on a long held Asian-American model minority stereotype. In a short three minute segment, Ronnie delivered over the top impressions of Asian parents’ carnal thirst for ‘money and prestige’ that’s only quenched by having a doctor in the family.
It was a warm summer day in July, and I felt trepidation as I prepared to meet my very first patient. This encounter marked my initiation into the world of clinical practice as a budding, first-year medical student. My patient, whom I will refer to as Bob, appeared to be in his late 50s.
When I told my aunt I was going to medical school, she looked me up and down and said, “So you’re going to be a know-it-all.”
Contributing Writer
Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine
Eliza is a medical student at the University of Utah Medical School in Salt Lake City, Utah, Class of 2025. She graduated from Brigham Young University in 2019 with a neuroscience major and creative writing minor. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking in the mountains, writing poetry, and reading historical novels. She plans to pursue a career in otolaryngology.
