Contributing Writer
University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson
Claire is a medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson in the class of 2027. In 2022, she graduated from Arizona State University's Barrett, the Honors College with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in Mathematics. In her free time, she enjoys running, road cycling, and baking.
For most of my life, I never truly understood what it meant to be a doctor. As the first in my family to pursue medicine, my understanding of healthcare was shaped by occasional doctor visits and, admittedly, unrealistic portrayals on TV. Like many other students in this position, I was naïve about what the profession would entail. I began my undergraduate journey as a chemical engineering major, drawn to its problem-solving aspects. I soon realized, …
I was patiently sitting in the lobby at Quest Diagnostics, waiting for the staff to slowly let people inside in adherence with the new social distancing guidelines. I waited for about ten minutes before a man in his mid-50s called my name and led me into a patient room.
It was early in third year and Ms. G was my only patient. I visited her every morning and evening and sometimes in-between. While our discussions had little to do with receptors and pumps, Ms. G taught me some of the most enduring lessons of that year.
Aside from the obvious anatomical and physiological implications that dictate sports, I am convinced that there are numerous principles that run parallel between medicine and sports. The aim of The Sport of Medicine is two-fold: to show that there is power in understanding the journey of others to help mold our own, and why I believe that medicine is a sport in its own, unique way.
Lessons learned from both sides — A column exploring the qualities of a physician from the perspective of a physician in training, through the lens of a patient.
The loudest sound I heard was neither the punctuated laughter of youthful teenagers nor the whispered voices of lovers holding hands, but the wind.
It is one thing to be a doctor and another to be a patient. It is a radically different thing to be a medical student paired by your medical school to a physician who is your “patient-partner.” Sounds like a word salad, but that is where I found myself as a first-year medical student at The Geisel School of Medicine of Dartmouth a few weeks after moving to New Hampshire, weeks before I would receive my white coat, months before I would have any clear idea of what the medical world is really like.
Contributing Writer
The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Vivienne T. Meljen is a fourth-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth ('17) and a graduate of The University of Scranton ('13). She will soon be beginning her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center. She is a 2013 Truman Scholar and National Health Service Corps Scholar interested in working with medically underserved populations. Vivienne first learned about Narrative Medicine through an English course in college and is taking strides to begin to share her stories. She takes pride in her education and work as a physician-to-be as well as spending time with her family and enjoying outdoor action sports any time of year and anywhere.
Follow her on Twitter: @StethoscopeOn
