The First Physical
General: / Patient is in NAD, / except for being awoken at 7 a.m. by someone he has never met
Tag: poetry
Contributing Writer
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Tyler Whitney is a third-year medical student at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, OK class of 2023. In 2019 she graduated from East Central University with a Bachelor's of Science in biology. She hopes to one day become a developmental pediatrician and enhance the lives of patients and parents of those with exceptional abilities. This piece was written one week into her internal medicine rotation and encapsulates her thoughts during her first physical on a real patient.
As a Phoenix
Dead eschars are excised. / Skin grafts grow like flowers / Repotted for new life.
Grandpapa’s Gift
Grandpapa had a gift for storytelling. / Sitting on the two-legged stools at the end of the Hutong,
Gynecologic Oncology Surgeons: Normal-Sized Giants
Bleary-eyed, / Surgical cap awry, / I follow in a single file line.
Intubate
Medical student, why don’t you intubate? / The OR is safe, it’ll go great.
Shortcomings of a Sanctuary
In the hospital lobby, three police officers / surrounded a woman in an oversized, white T-shirt, / sitting in a corner chair that nearly swallowed her whole, / enveloping her in its dull, floral pattern.
Death Is No Crime
Why — why did you die? / Your soul took to the sky / without a conscious goodbye
My Reflection (and Infinitely Beyond)
The quaternary code, the winding staircase / of you, incommensurate in its beauty.
Escape
The child’s restful sleep is lost / To the hisses of serpents and other seditious demons
Calmly Collected
My relaxed reveal / faked a fool / while tanking time / with failing fuel.
The Imposter
Comparison is the enemy / The future seems bleak / Look left, look right
Blood Draw
Unsheathe a hollow spear and spill from ephemeral streams of blue. / Hold it against me only for a moment to let my skin seize against the cold steel.
Contributing Writer
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Mahmud is a fourth year medical student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Lubbock, Texas Class of 2022. In 2018, he graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry. He enjoys traveling, discovering new parks, and drinking cold brew coffee in his free time. In the future, Mahmud would like to pursue a career in dermatology.