A Touch of Kindness
In the operating room, a man immediately recognized and greeted me / Even though I wore a surgical mask. / His welcoming expression was familiar to me, but I couldn’t pinpoint how I knew him.
Tag: surgery
Contributing Writer
University of Virginia School of Medicine
April is a member of the Class of 2020 at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, Virginia. She graduated from the University of Virginia with Bachelor of Arts in human biology. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, eating tacos, and cheering on UVA sports teams. In the future, she would like to pursue a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Nose
I take a deep breath / to calm myself / before walking into the storm / of OR shadowing.
Operational
Blood flakes / fall onto the /blue, sterile field from / crimson-smeared green / light grips.
Inside the Body, Inside the Mind: What Surgery Taught Me About Psychiatry
Perhaps the single most awkward conversation that a third-year medical student can have with an attending physician is the one that begins with the attending asking, “So, what medical specialty are you interested in going into?”
Transplant
I know that being a third-year medical student is like being a transplanted kidney. One starts the day in one body. School is composed of lecture halls and written exams. However, the world has shifted by the end of the day, and shockingly, one’s old body is not present.
I Dream Ahead
Draped the head and steadied the bed / For the life-saving aneurysm clipping, / I stop thinking of my former life.
A Crab in the Swell
I float in an ocean of sterile cerulean. / In this deep of drapery and gowns, / One could swim out and never see the shore.
In My White Coat Pockets: Surgery Clerkship
Though the white coat’s role in medicine today is complex — to some, a respected symbol of medicine’s history; to others, a antiquated relic of a paternalistic past — few medical students or frontline residents would deny this emblematic item one major utility: a source of pockets.
The Glamorous Life of a Medical Student in the Operating Room
Some of my friends and family are really fascinated when I tell them I’m on my third-year surgery rotation. It is hard to convey how glamorous and inspiring it is, so I’ve written a short summary of a morning in the operating room.
Under
Little girl / in the pink hospital gown / sits in a windowless room.
The Supremacy of the Scalpel
We wield the privilege of the scalpel, / Slice skin, / Cauterize the cutaneous, / Disrobe the depths of disease.
Contributing Writer
University of Alberta
Sarah Hanafi is a medical student at the University of Alberta with a vision for medicine that extends beyond the doctor’s office: she works upstream and across sectors to create healthier communities and address systemic challenges to wellbeing. Her work straddles the spheres of social services, health policy, political advocacy, community organizing, as well as research. Sarah has a vision for more connected and healthier communities - one that is inspired by a genuine passion for serving others.
