Contributing Writer
University of Rwanda - College of Medicine and Health Sciences
Darius is a medical student at University of Rwanda in Kigali, Rwanda, class of 2029. He enjoys reading, writing and talking with friends in his free time. After graduating medical school, Darius would like to pursue a career in clinical oncology.
When I was a child, I lost my grandpa to cancer. I used to promise him that I would become a health care provider and heal him, but unfortunately he passed away when I was in twelfth grade. Later, I joined medical school at the University of Rwanda, where I became involved in student-led research, health promotion practices and knowledge measurement.
Finally, it’s been three months since // He and I were strangers with bad blood, / breathless in bed, / discussing the acts of giving and / receiving as indulgences, / mulling over our motivations and / the contraindications for / charity.
She had her head bowed over her sleeping newborn, and her perfect plaits of braids were blanketing her shoulders, cascading calmly despite the insurmountable turmoil clearly manifesting on her face.
In September 2020, I started to volunteer as a health educator in sexual and reproductive health and rights with mobile clinics of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, reaching marginalized communities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). I worked in the villages of two cities in the West Bank — Jenin and Qalqilya.
Our successes are born out of / The communities that uplifted us. / The teachers that pushed us.
Uppgivenhetssyndrom, also termed resignation syndrome, is a distressing ailment in which patients — often young children — completely withdraw from the activities of daily life. With no underlying neurological or physical disease, these patients lose the will to live, essentially becoming apathetic.
I imagine her mother / Squeezing daughter’s limp hand / Silent tears
When I first started learning how to write SOAP notes, I was under the impression they would serve as objective documents to detail the medical history and current health problems experienced by patients It seemed these notes were to be created by — and for — clinicians. I now realize this perception could not be more wrong.
Every town — / We’ll say it could be any town, / until it has affected every town
Last year, I walked into a big hospital room towards the tiny NICU bed with a tiny baby in his space helmet. The moment he came out of that helmet, which was pumping in 100% oxygen, he would start deteriorating.
“You know, not all of us can be small,” the patient, a well-appearing woman in moderate anxious distress, said as she motioned with her hands and rolled her eyes towards me. “It’s disgusting,” she added.
Longitudinal community service presents health trainees with clear benefits including development of communication and interpersonal skills, understanding how to teach and insight into community level issues and personal well being.
Contributing Writer
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Justin Ong is a fourth year medical student at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC, Class of 2023. In 2018, he graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences with a minor in cognitive sciences. He enjoys hiking, playing table tennis and basketball, and watching reality television shows in his free time. After graduating from medical school, Justin plans to pursue a career internal medicine and explore interests in gastroenterology and cardiology.
