This category contains student reflections on key moments in their education that gave them new perspective and deeper insights to healthcare.
Resident Contributing Writer
Rutgers- Monmouth Medical Center
Micky is a 3rd-year Orthopedic Resident who is passionate about holistic wellness and always taking into account the social determinants of health to provide the highest quality of care to patients. He aspires to one day implement his experiences into his practice as an Orthopedic Surgeon.
Medical student Micky Akinrodoye reflects on his experiences of being a part of the care team for a complicated patient. With the understanding that every patient has a unique story and life experiences, Micky shares his outlook on the type of physician he would like to become in the future.
Read more to find out how three seemingly straightforward words, for medical student Charna Kinard, represented a spectrum of emotions, feelings and connotations in the setting of national news regarding policing and the Black Lives Matter movement and how this has shaped her path towards physicianship.
Future doctor Chidera Okafor contextualizes her struggles with depression, anxiety and apparent surreality with the world around her, while deftly shining the spotlight again on the often overlooked and unaddressed aspect of a physician’s world: self mental health.
Medical student Micaela Mcgregor gives profound advice to other future black doctors who will one day represent only 4% of practicing American physicians.
Medical student Nkiruka Aniagolu explores how understanding someone’s name or title can foster deeper trust with patients and those around us, as our names are ‘pieces of our personal mosaics’ that give glimpses to who we are.
Medical student Joaquin Zetina details a poignant example, illustrating the often overlooked and nuanced barriers and adversities faced by immigrant students that can shape their perspectives of themselves as well as society.
Medical student Scott Jamieson dissects the delicate balance of wanting to carry the burden of all of society’s health problems with necessary personal down-time and how students often struggle with these aspects of their lives.
Dekoiya Burton reflects on how he often feels like a prop in a “diversity” scheme when academic medicine doesn’t follow through with messages of diversity and inclusion beyond pamphlets and brochures.
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.
Imposter syndrome is a well-known phenomenon that healthcare providers can easily relate to at some point in their training. Future physician CJ Hornback dives into her struggles with this commonly-faced mental hurdle and how she ultimately overcame it.
Mohana is a medical student that brings to light the uphill battle against female objectification women face in the struggle to be taken seriously in medicine.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the author fondly reflects on the start of her unlikely friendship with Mr. R. This friendship ultimately became a safe haven for the author as she navigates her identity as a Chinese-American and learns about Mr. R’s cancer diagnosis.
Medical Student Contributor
Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine
Kelley Zhao is a second year medical student at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. She enjoys writing creative non-fiction pieces and is grateful to be able to share her experiences and perspectives through her short stories.
