Chief Complaint: 27-Year-Old Female MS-2 Reports Feeling “Hollow”
Medical student Olivia Dhaliwal reflects on the weight of medical school and her feelings of “hollow”
Arts and Poetry
This category contains poems and art pieces, which are also tagged under their respective themes in other cateogries.
Resident Contributing Writer, Editor
MAHEC Boone Rural FMR
Olivia is a resident at MAHEC Boone Rural FMR, OH. Born and raised in Erie, PA (and sort of California, too) she has lived in eight different states since starting college and took a roundabout journey to medicine. She hopes to pursue rural family medicine, with a focus on integrative and preventative medicine. When not studying, she is likely to be found working out at CrossFit, practicing yoga, reading fiction, writing poetry, spending time outside with her rescue pitbull Baylor, or traveling to her next adventure.
A Vision of Health Care
Medical student Rucha Borkhetaria shares a photograph that represents her view of an ideal physician.
The Human Touch
Medical student Rooshi Parikh writes about the power of human connection through a small ritual performed between a physician and a patient.
Dark Sea
Medical student Lindsey Wright explores the stark contrast of love and grief after the loss of her father to cancer and finds solace in poetry and painting.
The Ring On My Hand
This creative piece explores the internal dialogue that a gay patient has with himself when his provider fails to use inclusive language and offers a question that probes disclosure.
Smoke
Medical student Jake Bardell poetically epitomizes the art of medicine: navigating the nuances that lie beyond the logical and algorithmic thinking expected of doctors.
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.
One Day
Alicia Pugh writes a poem that reflects on how our backgrounds impact the way we view our patients.
The Pause
Katherine Panushka asks readers to reflect and acknowledge that our patients’ stories extend beyond their final moments in her poem, “The Pause.”
Mourning’s Glory
Lindsey Nae Wright reflects on mourning the losses that come with being a medical student.
His Perception
Medical student Alicia Pugh describes a conspicuous encounter with a patient that typified the lingering undercurrent of microaggresions against professionals of color. Read more to see how she responded to this experience.
Being
As a storyteller, the author vowed to lead with the person’s name in an effort to uplift the subject of the story. This all changed when the author began anatomy lab during medical school.
Medical Student Contributor
Indiana University School of Medicine
I fell into medicine because it bridges the boundless world of science with individual stories of humanity. Having a father from Ecuador and a mother from the states, I came to see the importance of listening and learning from voices different from myself. Over time, I have grown an excitement for art — not merely by creating, but by attempting to discover the art in others and helping others discover the art in themselves. I write to make sense of my own experience and the experience of others. In my free time, I enjoy rock climbing, playing guitar, and thrift shopping. Going into my third year, I am looking to pursue a career in Emergency Medicine.
