A View From the Other Side
While I knew little about these patients at the beginning of the day, I always started out knowing one very important fact: they were already dead.
Tag: death and dying
Physician Assistant Student Guest Writer
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Ashley Luebbers is a physician assistant student at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. In 2011, she graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Science in dietetics, and she obtained a Master of Science in nutrition and dietetics from Central Michigan University in 2016. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with friends and reading C.S. Lewis novels. After graduating in May 2019, Ashley plans to work in emergency medicine with a focus in pediatrics.
An Encounter Cut Short: A Lifelong Lesson
I was starting my surgery rotation, the second rotation of my third year, on the colorectal service. It was my first 24-hour on-call shift, which meant that my team would be responsible for multiple surgical services overnight.
Gimme Shelter
I hate to say that there is something exciting about getting called in to the hospital in the middle of the night. Logically, I know that means something bad is happening to someone else, but it makes my heart beat a little faster and my adrenaline surge.
Afterthoughts on Palliative Care
His breaths are heavy when we walk in. / Abdomen distended: / a large, perfect half-sphere…
Black Clouds
I had just started my third year, and I had already witnessed six patients die. I had never been called a black cloud before this, but it immediately stuck and seemed fitting.
Let Patients Die
In retrospect, I regret that she was not allowed to die peacefully. I now am compassionate towards those who opt solely for palliative management in terminal illnesses.
Deliverance
Jagged shards of lightning playfully dance across the horizon, / their shrieks of war struggling to keep up … / I hesitantly about-face and land my gaze upon his ethereal face.
Outside the Room: A Code Blue
I was called to a code the other day. Now I should probably clarify: as a medical student, I don’t actually do anything (unless they really need people for compressions). In fact, I wasn’t even in the room.
Elysium and Hades from My Backyard
Soon, / There / Will be / A true cure.
Grandmother
I did not know I was feeling sadness until I found it hard to swallow. There is no reason for it, I thought. At 94, she is still sharp, most of the time.
Ensconced in His Throne Upon the Sea
I strode down hallways, winding ‘round to meet / A sailor old and take to him his meal. / A gentle bounce in every step on beat, / This home to many always builds my zeal.
Five Inestimable Pounds
A canvas / Of delicately oiled / Skin, stretched taut
Contributing Writer
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Elizabeth is a fourth year medical student who is also concurrently earning her Master of Science in clinical research at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. She will graduate in May 2020. In 2014, she graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry. She enjoys table tennis, learning the saxophone and writing poetry in her free time. After graduating medical school, Elizabeth would like to pursue a career in otolaryngology.