we dozed on a mattress rattling overtop the yellow line, dreams buzzing to the arrival of each subway car. how hard we fought to wake together, and walk among hundreds on this cold palate of concrete, between the pointed teeth of buildings, unclear if in these shadows we are sheltered, as mouthbrood roe, or simply waiting, to be consumed. Poetry Thursdays is an initiative that highlights poems by medical students. If you are interested …
The stress of juggling multiple projects, some of which held little interest, seemed to overshadow their summer which should have been devoted to personal and professional development. In addition, I began to question if some of them would attempt to take shortcuts in their research.
These are the subjects / you taught me, but as I sit in this / despair, they don’t comfort me. / I need you to teach me more.
After four years of intensive studying, two years with long hours in the hospital and three years of dating, we made the decision to apply to dermatology and plastic surgery. Recognizing the competitive nature of both of these fields, we quickly realized that matching together may not be feasible. We wanted to take each other into account in the process without either one of us making a large sacrifice in the quality of our training program to be together. Open communication and transparency were critical for us throughout the process.
Resident Physician Guest Writer
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Arianna Yanes is a PGY-2 dermatology resident at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2015, she graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She completed medical school at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2019.
