Columnist Emeritus
Mayo Clinic
Dr. T. N. Diem Vu, MD is a surgical critical care fellow in the Mayo Clinic Department of General Surgery. She graduated from Mayo Medical School in the Class of 2016. She completed a BS in molecular & cellular biology with a minor in writing seminars at Johns Hopkins University in 2012. Her interests outside of medicine include illustration, writing, singing and playing ukulele, photography, film, food, books, and spending time with loved ones.
Med Student Shadows
As medical students, we shadow physicians to learn about the nature of medicine from them and their patients. In this column, Diem traces her own shadow, preserving and illustrating her experiences--in class, in the hospital, and in between--as a medical student.
For most medical students, the third year of medical school is their introduction to life in the hospital. This results not only in exciting learning opportunities, but also emotional tolls — grief, fear, anxiety, exhaustion — that can lead to serious problems including burnout, depression, and anxiety.
How can doctors-in-training confront great suffering without closing off emotionally? Jamie, a Class of 2014 medical student graduate heading to work at ABC News and starting a media project about the interface of meditation and medicine, shares how she practices presence with her own body and emotions in order to be present with others.
Eyes closed, shallow breaths. A serene, deserted beach in the south of France, in the near future. Children playing far away in a field, their laughter carried by the wind to nearby cliffs, where it glances off the soaring cliffs and echoes softly in my ears. Waves gently sweeping across the land, creating transient, unique impressions in the sand…again and again. My fingers slowly intertwine with those of another, and I am gratified by a …
Addiction is a chronic illness characterized by the use of a psychogenic substance despite negative consequences associated with its use. Biological dependence is marked by cravings, increased dose and/or frequency of use due to tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms upon cessation of substance abuse. Addicts gain pleasure via the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is released from the ventral tegmental area of the brain and into the nucleus accumbens. This reward encourages and solidifies the addictive behavior and …
How can doctors-in-training bring mindfulness into medical practice? Morgan, who is currently exploring healing around the world while applying for family medicine residencies, shares how her experiences at a Zen meditation center inspired her desire to be more present with her patients.
The life of a medical student is a rapid succession of lectures, small group sessions, exams, clinical experiences, workshops, meetings, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. As such, there has never been a more perfect time to stop and smell the roses. Seriously. As described in the blossoming literature, mindfulness techniques quite literally offer the opportunity to stop, breath, and take in the present moment -– roses, exams and all. Mindfulness is the nonjudgmental observation and …
Listen carefully and you may hear the whispers that mindfulness is becoming yet another buzzword in medicine, following in the steps of “cultural competency,” “narrative medicine,” and the like. It is trendy among its niche and it is being compelled into the curriculum of med schools across Canada and the United States in the hopes of creating a generation of physicians who haven’t burnt out by their ten-year reunions. Yeah, I’ve heard of mindfulness, but what is it, really? …
Contributing Writer Emeritus
University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
Nicole is a Class of 2015 medical student at the University of British Columbia, Canada, who enjoys the unique perspective her bachelor's of tourism management provides her in medicine.
