Contributing Writer
Emory University School of Medicine
Leenah Abojaib is a medical student at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, class of 2027. In 2022, she graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas with a Bachelors of Arts in Biosciences and Spanish Studies. In her free time, she enjoys weight-lifting, long-distance running, crocheting/knitting and connecting with friends and family. She is interested in pursuing a career in critical care medicine.
I have always been taught to treat the patient and not the disease. As a first-year medical student, I am not sure I know how to treat either yet, but I know that putting a face to a disease is crucial to my training as a physician. I have always been intrigued by human stories in medicine that involve difficult and often stressful conversations because they have a tendency to become flashbulb memories that impact …
“Nurse! Nurse! Please help me! Can someone please help me?” For several minutes, her cries echoed through the halls. Something felt wrong. I brought her cries to the attention of the charge nurse.
Soon after I began my clinical rotations in medical school, I started to see it. It was subtle. At first, I didn’t even notice it. It usually happens during hand-over, when the night team fills in the day team on overnight events, including any new admissions.
There I was, face to face with a middle-aged Korean man, blood still dripping from a gash in his forehead. Disoriented, erratic, agitated … and rightfully so.
Contributing Writer
Morsani College of Medicine
Kareem Zuhdi is a first year medical student passionate about narrative medicine, quality improvement and mental and physical well-being. Studying to get his MD at the Morsani College of Medicine, he also works on the side as a volunteer crisis counselor for a suicide and crisis hotline as well as on the Lancet’s Child and Adolescent Health International Youth Advisory Panel. In his free time, Kareem loves kayaking, playing tennis and exploring new restaurants.
