Fiona Doolan (2 Posts)Columnist
School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin
Fiona Doolan is a 4th year medical student at the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, graduating in 2023. She holds a B.S. in physiology from Boston University, 2017. She is host of the podcast CXR: Careers x Radiology. CXR is a long-form interview podcast introducing radiology to the medical student. It was inspired by the explosion in virtual connectedness worldwide during the pandemic, and from a deep curiosity about the specialty. Fiona is an avid runner and aspiring radiologist.
Write Rx
Now and for the foreseeable future, providers and patients wear masks. An essential element of the doctor-patient relationship – nonverbal expression – is much reduced. When what is on our faces is anathema, we rely more heavily on narratives. Consider each entry of ‘Write Rx’ a prescription for a narrative medicine exercise that just might help you find the right words to relate to patients in this changed space. Here I hope you will find a bit of inspiration for reflection amidst the rigors of medical school, not in the least thanks to some famous physician-writers, excerpts from whom serve as an entry point for each exercise.
‘Write Rx’ is a narrative medicine column offering ‘prescriptions’ for narrative medicine exercises. Each column entry begins with an introduction to the theme of the entry, offers literary excerpts to expand on that theme and concludes with questions that invite students to explore a corresponding narrative medicine topic. The goal is to offer space for reflection for busy medical students, as well as foster medical students’ communication toolkit in the increasingly complex space of patient care. Topics include cultural fluency, illness cognitions and more.
There is a straight line from / ordering an ultrasound to obtaining / clear cylinders of red blood cells.
My attention swung back and forth between my mom, my screen and the pairs of eyes periodically peering into the hospital room. I focused on the next question on my screen. Another patient had expired as if they were a carton of milk left too long in the fridge.
Simply put, the humanities seek to capture the mosaic of human existence across the chasms of jubilation and despair, life and death, love and fear. The humanities are both disciplines of academic study and modes of expression.
Screams. Tears. Despair. / A sense of sadness in the atmosphere.
Every medical student has felt apprehensive about facing death at some point, right? Maybe you have experienced someone dying before, or maybe it is something you have never seen and only rarely contemplated. Regardless, there is a subtle tension lurking during your first two years of pre-clinical studies, during which disease and death are intellectualized and abstract. Then clerkships start.
Nita Chen, MD, movement disorders fellow at the Normal Fixel Institute for Neurological Disease, contributes this graphic medicine piece as a former in-Training writer, editor, columnist and featured artist for our print book in-Training: Stories from Tomorrow’s Physicians, Volume 2.
In early spring, amid the earlier quarantines, I watched dandelions grow outside my window. At first, subtly and hidden among the blades of grass. Then budding, bursting yellow amid green galaxies. These tiny suns danced in April’s wind and their scent carried morning’s dew and earth-like warmth into midday, until the smells of grills and barbecues took stage.
We put out this call for visual artwork several months ago, to gauge our communities’ interest and willingness to embrace a new medium of expression on our website. We asked artists to submit with their work an artist’s statement to reflect on what prompted their creating their work and how their art reflects on their experiences in medicine.
This drawing depicts the stark contrast of a woman who is both strong, yet visibly vulnerable as her tears pour off the page. This piece was inspired by a patient who was admitted after an incidental finding of a lab abnormality, which forced her to stay in the hospital for four weeks. When she initially learned of her lab results, she was overwhelmed.
This work is about vulnerability and the feeling of being vulnerable. There is a special exposure to vulnerability for everyone who is taking part in healthcare systems, be it of course as a patient who potentially suffers restrictions in their physical and/or psychic integrity trough illness or also the caregivers who are under pressure to be attentive, know the right things, act and speak properly all the time.
This painting, utilizing oil and acrylic paints, was made in the midst of studying for my ongoing classes and boards. There have been a couple diseases that have stuck with me throughout my studies. This disease is a deep-sea themed illustration of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, more commonly known as “broken heart syndrome.”
Ruchica Chandnani (4 Posts)Managing Editor and Contributing Writer
Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Ruchica Chandnani is a third year medical student at the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 2019, she graduated from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience and a minor in Asian Languages and Culture. In her spare time, she likes watching cartoons and anime, writing, painting, eating, and traveling (esp. solo traveling). Presently, Ruchica is interested in pursuing Psychiatry, Neurology, and/or Anesthesiology and hopes to become an advocate for victims of trauma.
