Contributing Writer
Eastern Virginia Medical School
I am an MD candidate in the Class of 2017 with an interest in primary care and underserved populations.
Today was not sunny, but today James got to go outside. James is seven years old. Today, he was allowed to drink ginger ale. He’s never been allowed to drink what he wants. He hasn’t left the hospital in weeks. Since James was born, he has had an array of complications. He’s suffered numerous heart attacks, a nearly fatal hemorrhage, a stroke, renal failure, and has lived most of his life on dialysis. His doctors have tried heroic measures “to …
Kyle died early on a Sunday morning. His last meal was vanilla pudding, fed to him lovingly by his grandmother Shirley, while reruns of “Inspector Gadget” played in the background. When Kyle was born 25 years earlier, the family had been told he would not live more than a few weeks into infancy. But Kyle surprised everyone by surviving a quarter of a century with debilitating cerebral palsy. What surprised me most about Kyle was …
“Are you really prepared to see this?” the doctor asked staring intensely at me, his arm blocking my way to the patient’s room. “Yes,” I replied hesitantly. “You prepped me on the patient already.” “Kid, I didn’t ask if you were prepped. I asked if you were prepared.” I knew that a scheduled delivery for a miscarriage would be a traumatic experience. I knew that it required the utmost sensitivity and compassion. Dr. A had …
It was just a week into our third-year rotations and my class was eagerly awaiting our Step 1 scores while adjusting to the beginnings of our clinical responsibilities. When the day came that our scores were to be released, I received a phone call from my aunt who told me that my Pappou (grandfather), who was in Greece on his yearly summer trip, had collapsed on his veranda and was en route to a local …
On June 8, 2012, William Ferrell, the pseudonym for a friend I have chosen to write on, passed away. He and I were not terribly close friends. Playing in the marching band together for three years, we would talk about the microcosm of high school and about out political views, but we never invested further in each other’s lives. We may have spoken once in person after graduation. What I remember the most about his …
Contributing Writer Emeritus
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Mahesh is a member of the class of 2014 at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Strong interest in the interplay of social and medical ethics; evidence based medicine.
