Preclinical

Da Da (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer



Da Sisnie is a fourth year medical student in the east coast. She originates from Mexico and graduated from The University of Texas at El Paso. When she is not in the library, she is hanging out with her cat and confidante, Otis. She's interested in neurology, internal medicine, medical education, and a career in olympic coffee drinking.




Learning To Be Mediocre

Published by Da

Medical school is a constant, never-ending cycle between success and failure — sometimes one occurring within moments of the other. To be a medical student is to fail. We fail at the small things: working out three times a week, being on time for a friend’s birthday dinner, working on the research that has been on our desk for months. We also fail at the big things like exams, practical skills, asking for help when we most need it and sometimes letting ourselves sulk for too long.

Obesity Pep Talk

Published by Omar Jamil

She just sat there and listened — what else could she do? Did he really think it was the first time she had heard this? Was the rehearsed monologue supposed to elicit some sort of epiphany? One of our pre-clinical instructors told us a story about how she went to the doctor’s office to get a refill, only to receive a 20-minute lecture about her weight by a resident. She walked out of the office both irritated and empty-handed, her refill not completed: “I know I need to lose weight!” But, at that juncture, and in that manner, she felt it simply was not the appropriate discussion.

Futility: Or Linen Sheets in the Rain

Published by Noah Kojima

Across the street from the Public Health Research Institute of India (PHRII) is a laundry, where laundrymen, women and children undertake their quotidian task of hanging white linen sheets before daybreak. They cover the long ropes that run by the dusty, red road with countless numbers of alabaster white sheets. The sheets spread to cover the walls, wrought-iron fences and wooden posts transforming the city street into effervescent maze that billows under the hot mid-day sun.

Dead in Traffic: Reflections on Gross Anatomy

Published by Matthew Trifan

Cadaver. The word itself seems devoid of life. And, so too does the white plastic bag lying unceremoniously before me. It’s the first day of anatomy, and I unzip the tarp and stare down at a wet, grey lump of clay. There it is. There is what, exactly? What was I expecting? Some warm human soul, freshly sprung from the loins of life? No. That’s not this. The essence of life is gone — absolutely, irrevocably, unquestionably, gone.

Our Cadavers, Ourselves

Published by Leigh Finnegan

My cadaver has pink fingernails. I saw them on the first day of class, after we pulled back the white plastic sheet with the number “22” scrawled on it with permanent marker, and cut away the damp cloth that had been covering her cold skin. Her arms were folded across her chest, and on her fingers was a sparkly, ballet-pink polish, not chipped or peeling despite having been there for the 13 months since she’d died. I don’t know why it’s there. I don’t know if she painted them thinking she was going to survive to enjoy it, or if she was someone who always wanted to look her best, even in death.

Treatment of Balance Disorder: Lessons from the Samurai Warrior

Published by Tyson Schwab

Before starting medical school, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan and visit an array of Buddhist cities peppered with ancient temples and samurai villages. As I explored these breath-taking communities, I discovered the samurai’s commitment to the pursuit of perfection in lifestyle and skill. Now, as I face the challenges of being a medical student, I find myself turning to the canon of the samurai.

A Woman of Science

Published by Kate Joyce

I consider myself a woman of science. I believe that a human exists as a collection of cells. I believe that the depth of our emotions runs only as deep as our cisterns of neurotransmitters. I believe that birth and death are neither miracles nor tragedies, but parts of the natural circle of life.

My Summer in Orthopedic Surgery

Published by in-Training, the online peer-reviewed publication for medical students

Administrative assistant, nurse and high school volunteer were just a few of the titles people assumed I was when they saw me sitting in the office of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Often to their surprise, I was a medical student starting my summer research project between my first and second year. It became immediately clear that seeing a young woman associated with orthopedic surgery was not something many people were used to.

Golf: The Greatest Tool for the World’s Greatest Teacher

Published by Trevor Mooney

My dad taught me how to swing a golf club at an early age. No, not with the overbearing exactitude of an Earl Dennison Woods. Robert Mooney Jr., a brilliant emergency physician with a respectable high school swimming career, never wished to live vicariously through my future sporting exploits. Perhaps having personally authored the genetics of scrawny paleness into my genetic constitution, he knew a losing battle when he saw one.

Anomalies

Published by Lisa Beyers

Eight weeks into anatomy class. Nine days into dissection of the head and neck. Forty five minutes into Tuesday morning’s anatomy lab and we are all searching for a place of solace.

None of us were prepared for the dissection of the face. As my lab partner, Simon, chisels a clumsy midsagittal chasm between the front teeth of the body lying before us, we brace for that moment of destruction when anatomic perfection turns into carnage.

On Doctors, Death and Dignity in Sharing Our Stories

Published by Shilpa Darivemula

We huddled around in a circle. Some rubbing our necks, some touching our wrists, and some listening with tears streaming down our faces. It was a room of physicians and physicians-in-training, listening as one resident shared her story of watching her patient pass away when she ran a code for the first time. At the conclusion of her story, physicians and students approached the resident with hugs and advice.

Shilpa Darivemula Shilpa Darivemula (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer

Albany Medical College

Shilpa is a member of the Class of 2018 at Albany Medical College. She is a trained classical Indian dancer, a fruiti-vore, and a true lover of sleep. She loves indigenous-anything and usually responds to anything that has the word "traditional" in it. She can be spotted doing secret dance moves in her cubicle in the library.