Contributing Writer
New York Medical College
Adonai Sebastian is a third-year medical student at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY class of 2022. In 2017, she graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience. She enjoys baking, traveling, and playing tennis/soccer in her free time. In the future, Adonai would like to pursue a career in neurology and become involved in medical education.
Is medical education doing enough to address future physicians’ abilities to understand the perspectives of their patients? As a medical student, my growing disillusionment begins with medical school and the lack of opportunities afforded to us during our education to discuss matters such as racial inequality.
A mourning sun cries as she tucks away / the night to uncover red and blues / lumps of fabric and skin on gritty sand below.
I am calling for international solidarity and aid for Yemenis who are currently living in the worst conditions imaginable without clean water, food or shelter. Today in Yemen, there is war, an economic crisis, cholera outbreaks, the Chikungunya virus and COVID-19, all in the same country.
“I still feel the same,” she says / after three weeks of ECT. / Monday / Wednesday / Friday —
I commented to the resident how satisfied the attending would be with the efficiency of his work. He just laughed and said “look” as he gestured down to his list of patients. I saw the name, and a sense of dread sank in during the rest of the silent walk down the hall.
Mask on. / Your own protective prison / the air is stale but clean, you hope.
Our patients deserve to have their battles acknowledged. That means believing your patients when they implore, “I am trying” and appreciating that we may encounter people at different phases of recovery.
Gloves first, then scalpel blades gathered, / instructor books and an atlas. / What yearning and churning my mind feels, / unsure what learning to expect.
I proposed a deal to my fellow student on our surgery rotation. “You can have all the other cases today if I get the laryngectomy.”
My agitation grew as I realized I needed to do something. I was a medical student training to be a doctor after all, right? Wasn’t I supposed to help alleviate the burdens of others?
Seeking to document the experiences of students in street medicine groups at medical schools across the country, I decided to start with my own institution, the University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine.
Children raised in foster homes tend to have a high morbidity. They have developed a similar prevalence of serious physical and mental problems comparable to those of other disadvantaged children populations.
Contributing Writer
Albany Medical College
Gregory Hsu is a fourth year medical student at Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. In 2015 he graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry. He enjoys basketball, movies and cooking in his free time. After graduating medical school Gregory would like to pursue a career in cardiology.
