Yellow
Medical student Lindsey Nae Wright discusses the unique and life-altering experience of practicing the physical exam on her dying father. Her experience has turned the happy color yellow into something darker.
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Medical Student Contributing Writer, Columnist
University of Utah School of Medicine
Lindsey Nae Wright is a member of the University of Utah School of Medicine class of 2022 and is interested in pursuing a career in Surgery. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Utah in Medical Anthropology and minored in Pediatric Research. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and practicing yoga. She loves to sample fancy cheese and drink coffee. For her, writing is an important outlet that allows for creativity, making important connections, and processing life-changing moments.
Better than Tomorrow
Medical student Shivani Sundaram underscores the daily struggles and reality faced by those with dementia and memory disorders through a recognizably “normal” conversation. Read more to find out how this conversation ends.
Hustle and Heart
Medical student Navjot Singh teaches us how to surmount racism with composure, grace, and courage –
“As minorities in medicine, we must give ourselves the space to heal and open our hearts limitlessly to everyone, including the individuals we encounter who try to prevent us from excelling.”
A Visceral Experience
Medical student Micaela Mcgregor gives profound advice to other future black doctors who will one day represent only 4% of practicing American physicians.
The Difficult Patient
Medical student Allen Betts explores the often underrated effect of psychosocial determinants and the integral part they play in the influencing health and well-being. Read more to find out how he has come to appreciate the soft skills a physician gleans through patient encounters rather than through books.
Disparities in the Management of Cardiovascular Diseases in Women
Jean Anne Adomfeh unravels a common gender bias, contained in diagnosing chest pain, that has existed in medicine for decades and how through a few simple yet profound words of a teacher, combined with experiences along the way, she is inspired to help change the narrative.
The Pause
Katherine Panushka asks readers to reflect and acknowledge that our patients’ stories extend beyond their final moments in her poem, “The Pause.”
Conquering the Mount Everest of Education
Future surgeon Kayla Flewelling describes, in scrupulous detail, the psyche of a medical student as they traverses the learning pipeline, all the while trying to maintain a semblance of sanity, perseverance and perspective.
Excellence in Health Care
Health care providers face what seem to be insurmountable challenges on a daily basis; none more sobering than the inhumanities and tragedies that often occur when on the clock. Medical student Nicholas Czelatka gives his perspective on what quality health care truly means.
Reproductive Planning During a State of Emergency
Medical student Ritha Mera reviews responses to reproductive health care accesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mera writes as an advocate for women of color and highlights health disparities in vulnerable populations. Through drawing comparisons to past natural disasters and tracking the current pandemic’s harmful impacts on reproductive health care, Mera makes an argument for contraception and family planning to be included in emergency protocols for future disruptions.
Humanizing Blackness
Medical student Vidya Lala vividly describes her interpretation of the often cited terms black body and black lives. Read more to find out what these terms mean to her.
When I First Wore My White Coat
As a young immigrant from the Philippines, medical student Russyan recounts his journey, through verse, from his village to medical school and the challenges, lessons and values learned along the way.
Medical Student Contributing Writer
University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine
Russyan moved to the United States from the Philippines when he was 15. His experiences as a low-income, immigrant of color are instrumental to his desire to pursue medicine and use it as a tool to elevate marginalized communities. A medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, he hopes to one day be a primary care physician fighting for health equity through policy, advocacy and education. He enjoys coffee, singing, the enneagram and deep conversations.