Tag: death and dying

Lorenzo Sewanan Lorenzo Sewanan (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer Emeritus

Yale School of Medicine

Lorenzo R. Sewanan grew up in Paramaribo, Suriname, and moved to Queens, New York, when he was sixteen. After graduating from Trinity College in physics and in engineering, he enrolled in Yale School of Medicine as an MD/PhD student. As a child he used to invent worlds of imagination, and now, he wants to bring inner worlds, his and others, to papers and words.




Microcosm: A Routine Visit in Primary Care

Published by Lorenzo Sewanan

The old woman with long silver hair sat in her wheelchair, feet propped slightly up, smiling toothless among her layers of wrinkles. She waited for me to speak, deferring her decades of matriarchy and adulthood to the stethoscope I wore so casually after just months of earnest experience. Indeed, it sat lightly on my neck today but heavily on my heart. A few more seconds passed, as I contemplated how exactly I wanted to discuss her test results and how exactly I would ask her to proceed.

The Beginning or the End?

Published by Omar Aldaas

The beginning of third year clerkships is an exciting time for medical students. The first step of my licensing exam was finally behind me and now I could focus on applying the knowledge into a clinical context. I had heard a lot of stories about the third year of medical school. Perhaps what stood out most were the reflections shared with me when people witnessed death for the first time. From full codes to hospice patients, something about death seemed to draw out the most intense emotions and thoughts that can change lives forever. Although I always try to do the best for my patients, I knew it was inevitable that I would come across death. I wondered what profound thoughts and reflections I would have when I experienced it for the first time. It wasn’t too long before I was called to do CPR in the emergency department and I found it did not play out as I expected.

The Cost of Hope

Published by Nolan Adams

They’re out of place in dirty Crocs and wrinkled sweatpants. More notably, she’s wiping tears from puffy cheeks. It’s a sharp contrast to the nurses, who are too casual. One makes a remark to the other about a tangled tube. They always get that way. The other chuckles.

When Breath Becomes Air: The Lasting Impact of Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s Memoir

Published by Brent Schnipke

Like many bibliophiles, I keep a running list of books “To Read”, and I have a complicated system for deciding what I will read next; because of this, any new recommendation must go to the end of the queue. Every now and then, though, a book comes along that disrupts my whole system. In this case, I read an excerpt in The New Yorker that moved me: I was struck by the clarity of the writing and finished the excerpt wanting to know more. Over the next week, three different people recommended it and I began seeing it everywhere. Sensing that this book was something important, I bought and immediately began reading When Breath Becomes Air by Dr. Paul Kalanithi.

No Happy Ending

Published by Erica Patel

One after the other, day after day it seems, I find myself in a room where the resident is breaking the news of terminal cancer to my patients and I feel an overwhelming sadness belied by numbness. It has only been a week and a half on internal medicine and we have already diagnosed three unsuspecting patients with cancer.

The Right Time to Lose a Patient

Published by George Prousi

Although there is really never a right time to die or even witness death, it is important to acknowledge that death is a reality, and one to which all health care practitioners will be subjected at some point in time. For that reason, I raise the question: is there an appropriate time to lose a patient? From my perspective the answer is yes, and for good reason.

Wesley Thomas Wesley Thomas (2 Posts)

Contributing Writer

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine

Wesley Thomas graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelors in Microbiology. He is interested in pursuing a career in Pediatrics and hopes to work both abroad and in his home state. Currently, Wesley is a medical student at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.