Tag: depression

Jacob Murphy (1 Posts)

Contributing Writer

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Jacob is a fourth year medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland class of 2025. In 2020, he graduated summa cum laude from University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology. He enjoys reading, collecting watches, and pickup basketball (claim to fame: once almost played with Adam Sandler) in his free time. After graduating medical school, Jacob would like to pursue a career in internal medicine with considerations of a career in pulmonary/critical care or medical oncology.

Bridging Personal and Professional Perspectives on Mental Health Medication

Published by Jacob Murphy

As medical students, we spend years preparing for the daunting hurdle that is the summer between the third and fourth year of medical school, a twelve week stretch in which you prepare for USMLE Step 2, perform at your highest caliber on a sub-internship in the specialty of your choice, and craft your application to residency. Accordingly, as I approached this part of medical school myself, I expected its accompanying level of academic stress. I …

A Defense of My Suicidal Peers

Published by May Chammaa

A medical student, to whom I will refer as X, posted on their social media page they were going to kill themselves. Their letter was direct, raw and, as many suicide notes tend to be, apologetic. They explained they felt they no longer had the strength to keep fighting; it was simply “time for them to go.”

Spring

Published by Sarra El Ghoul

The year turns four. / April weeps: the vootery / Of a heart too weak / To hold the stifling tears until December.

Fighting Physician Suicide Takes a Tribe

Published by Jennifer Tsai

When I applied for medical school, I knew I was signing up for hard work. I knew I would have to spend countless hours studying, that my sleep cycle might never be the same. But I had not expected this.

Tiny Matters

Published by Alison Toback

Congratulations, you’ve started medical school! The dream you have had since you were nine years old is finally coming to fruition. You’re going to be a doctor! Just … not in 2012, when you think you’re going to graduate. In 2018. I’ll get to that later.

Waves

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

I first met you at age 13. / You hid behind a / camouflage of naivety.

Owning My Story

Published by Charlotte Collins

If you remember, about one year ago I had published a story about coming to terms with my mental illness on in-Training. Soon thereafter, I asked for the publication to be removed. I would like to re-publish my story with a very important addition.

Dealing With Depression in Medical School

Published by Lindsey McDaniel

One of the things that I have struggled with most in medical school is depression. Not learning to recognize, diagnose or treat it, but actually dealing with the effects of this condition. I soon realized that this problem is much bigger than myself, and needs to be talked about openly. This is my story.

This is You on Depression: Results of our Medical Student Mental Health Survey

Published by Ajay Koti

It has been a little over two years since Kaitlyn Elkins, a second-year medical student at Wake Forest, took her own life. Her death stunned friends and family, who had been largely unaware of her protracted struggle with depression that was ultimately revealed in her suicide note. Kaitlyn’s mother, Rhonda Elkins, dedicated herself relentlessly to advocating for mental health awareness before succumbing to her own grief, committing suicide one year later.

Ajay Koti (17 Posts)

Columnist and in-Training Staff Member

Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida

Ajay is a pediatric resident and a Class of 2017 graduate of the SELECT MD program at the University of South Florida. He is passionate about delivering primary care to underserved populations—specifically, low-income and homeless patients in urban centers. Ajay will be specializing in pediatrics, with a particular interest in child maltreatment.

M.D. or Bust

Numerous studies have documented that medical students lose empathy during clinical years, becoming jaded and pessimistic. This has been linked not only to diminished enjoyment of our work, but also to worse patient outcomes. My goal is to sustain the humanistic values that drive so many of us to medicine, so that, instead of being quelled by cynicism, our idealism can be refined by wisdom.