Contributing Writer
Northeast Ohio Medical University
Neda Amirmokhtari is a third year medical student at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, Ohio class of 2021. In 2017, she graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science in integrated life sciences. She enjoys painting, drawing, listening to music, and playing with her dog in her free time. In the future Neda would like to pursue a career in the field of Oncology.
When I was told I had a mass in my chest, I was shocked. Like most people who are told that they have cancer, I was blindsided. But it was even more shocking because I had been going to multiple doctors over a period of six months complaining of pain in my chest, right arm, and right shoulder.
This is the conclusion of the two part series of Yichi Zhang’s experience as a patient in China’s emergency medicine system.
In part one of this two-part series, Yichi Zhang recounts his experience as a patient in China’s emergency medicine system.
The HIV clinic was one of my favorite rotations in all of third year. It was often emotional for me. Many uninsured, low-income patients came to the clinic not only for their HIV treatment, but also for comprehensive primary care.
You tell me you’d like to be an engineer one day. You hesitate after the words “one day,” like you’re reconsidering the phrase. I want to tell you not to, but I can’t find the words.
I prepared myself to discuss lab results and dietary counseling. But then my eyes stumbled upon the words on my screen that seemed to be staring back at me: ‘Lung cancer, metastatic to the bone.’
I had not yet guided a ‘goals of care’ discussion. This is the discussion that entails understanding a patient’s wishes regarding end of life care, and it is often in the context of determining what advanced medical interventions the patient might want. That day, my short white coat felt shorter, like it was yelling out to everyone I encountered that I had no idea what I was doing.
I hate to say that there is something exciting about getting called in to the hospital in the middle of the night. Logically, I know that means something bad is happening to someone else, but it makes my heart beat a little faster and my adrenaline surge.
Every time we’d ask the physical therapists to take him on a walk to get better oriented with his surroundings and see some sunlight, Mr. G. would refuse. He was a stubborn man.
I will never forget the patient who shocked my preconceived notions about health care.
They asked me how that encounter had gone, and I could feel my cheeks turn bright red. I was embarrassed that I was not able to connect with my patient.
My medical education has been a long journey to this point — a journey filled with many obstacles and detours resulting in moments of self-reflection and personal growth. One of the most important detours on my journey led to me being relocated to Riverside University Health System (RUHS) for a longitudinal care assignment.
Contributing Writer
University of California, Riverside School of Medicine
Stephanie is second year medical student from Southern California. She enjoys a diverse background spending her undergrad years as a hairstylist, getting a minor in Business, and doing stem cell research-- among other things. Her interests continue to vary from community volunteer work in underserved areas, eating vegan food all over the map, and reading as many true crime books as she can while continuing to study during her 3rd year of medical school.
