Contributing Writer
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Claire is a member of Georgetown University School of Medicine's Class of 2018. A thorough third culture kid (don't ask her where she's from unless you have a few hours), she enjoys running, coffee, and medieval French literature. Follow her on Twitter for pithy M1 musings and funny medical jokes.
As I was standing in my apartment building’s laundry room scrubbing away at a stubborn coffee stain, I kept up a steady stream of curses at my white coat. In the seven weeks since I’d first donned it, my coat had apparently decided that it preferred to be any color but white. A Tide-to-Go pen is now a permanent fixture in my pocket, and it’s used almost as often as the actual pens. It’s odd …
My hands were a bit sweaty; my heart was fluttering. As I was driving , questions and doubts surfaced in my mind. “What if my preceptor is mean?” “What if I put my stethoscope the wrong way?” I had shadowed physicians and worked with patients in hospitals, but this was different. This was the first day when I would become a part of the medical health professional team and would utilize the physical diagnosis and …
We had our white coat ceremony on the third day of medical school. Each student was given a rose to give to someone who helped during their journey to medical school. As soon as we started school, we had lectures to attend, books to read and frequent tests to study for. Everything started off with a bang! Before we knew it, we were nose deep in books, and we quickly forgot what life was like …
What a surreal feeling it was, to slip my hands — the same hands that pulled me across the floor as a baby, plucked worms from the ground as a mud-covered kid, collected E. coli-infested water samples throughout high school, flipped through MCAT study guides for an infinitesimal amount of time during college — into the sleeves of my white coat. They were the same hands, yes, but as they slid through those starchy sleeves, …
As that white coat flutters down the corridors of the ward, clinic, or examination room, a feeling of hope emerges. The white coat, a ubiquitous symbol, has become synonymous with all the precepts that a doctor stands for. Trust, hope, and strength are all ideals that doctors strive to personify in their actions with not only patients, but also with their colleagues. By striving to actualize these precepts as a physician, one will lead a …
Contributing Writer and Former Undergraduate Guest Writer
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine
My name is C.J. Skok and I am a MS-1 at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine - Midwestern University. I attended Indiana University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Psychology (Honors), with a minor in German.
