Just Keep Pushing: Conversations with the Woman in the Mirror
You already started / your medical school journey / non-traditionally. / Just keep pushing
Tag: medical student wellness
Contributing Writer
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Courtney is a second year medical student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO class of 2022. In 2015, she graduated from DePauw University with a Bachelor of Arts in history, minor in psychology. She is a jazz music fanatic from Memphis, TN who also enjoys road trips, "good eats," and playing the bass clarinet in her free time. After graduating medical school, Courtney would like to pursue a career in either child and adolescent psychiatry or pediatric rheumatology.
Failing Out and Leaning In
I refreshed the page over and over again, thinking that a different number would magically appear instead, but it never did. I then picked up the phone to call my mom. I choked out the words, “I failed out of medical school.”
How to Make Third Year of Med School the Best One Yet (or at Least Survivable)
I’ve been asked by medical students in the classes below me about my third year experiences. Every student’s experience is unique, but listed below are the things I’ve discovered along the way that have helped me survive and even enjoy my third year.
Combating Burnout With Gratitude
In the middle of my second year of medical school, I began noticing early signs and symptoms of burnout. The stress, anxiety and diminishing joy terrified me because I wondered: How could I already be burned out when I had not even studied for Step 1 or started rotations at the hospital? Were there any remedies to what I was experiencing?
A New Look at Medical Student Mental Health: Exploring its Roots in Pre-Med Culture
Medical school is an exciting time in an aspiring physician’s life, but a somber reality is looming.
A Curious Case of Iatrogenic Hemineglect
I am writing to share my concern regarding a series of unusual and troubling cases affecting medical professionals across the country. It manifests as a selective form of hemineglect in otherwise neurologically intact individuals.
Fighting Physician Suicide Takes a Tribe
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.
Adventure #16: Baking up a Barney Cake
One of my favorite things in life is food — the act of cooking and baking, sharing food with friends and, of course, eating it. I don’t know about you, but I can personally attest to having very positive thoughts after filling my stomach with delectable sweets.
What About Our Fitness and Nutrition in Medical School?
As medical students, we spend endless hours stuck in a library, with tons of books and piles of notes that we try to get into our heads … It is only logical that it is challenging to maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine while aiming for academic excellence.
Medical School Admission: Patience is a Virtue
While it is clear that the issue of depression and anxiety extends well beyond the medical school admissions process, it is important to ask whether it is the beginning of a long and slippery slope to a life of anxiety and depression.
Adventure #15: Keep it Zen
Most of my articles bear a similar theme: find activity, go on activity, discuss what I learned from the activity and my recommendations for whether or not my readers should pursue said activity. This one is … different.
Leave of Absence: A Gift in Disguise
Tears rushed down my face / like the initial gush of water / spurting from a faucet
Writer-in-Training
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
Alayna is a first year medical student at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando, Florida. She also has a Molecular Biology and Microbiology degree from the University of Central Florida and is a proud Orlando native who knows that Orlando is much more than just theme parks and tourists. Her medical interests include community health, global health, and bioethics. When not studying, she enjoys reading fiction novels, rollerblading at local parks, and planning her next travel adventure.