SIRS
Dr. Evin Anies utilizes haiku about systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) to reflect on his journey as a newly-minted physician.
Mental Health and Wellness
This category contains reflections on how students maintain their mental health in school and deal with the stress of burnout.
Resident Physician Contributing Writer
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Ervin (Erv) is beginning his general intern year at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and recently graduated from the Uniformed Services Univerity of the Health Sciences in May 2022. While in medical school, he was the co-director for the on-campus peer-led curriculum aimed to foster conversations about diversity, bias, discrimination, and inclusion in both medicine and the military. His interests include medical education, promoting diversity, and utilizing the arts to augment the healing nature of medicine.
Mentorship as a Tool for Identity Formation
Zain Khawaja, a medical student, discusses his experience as a mentee and provides insight on creating social support networks via mentorship.
Pursuing Medicine as a Chinese-American in the Time of COVID-19
Henry Zou, an Asian American fourth-year medical student, reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and finds courage and hope.
Who Am I?
Medical student Micaela Torres reflects on her progress in healing past traumas and improving her mental health.
The Blues of Code Blue
“Code blue!” They teach it as an algorithm and a protocol. But what you are not taught are the emotions attached to a code. I had just finished a cholecystectomy case on my surgery rotation and was walking by the medical intensive care unit when I heard “rapid response team, coronary care unit (CCU).” Since the CCU was not far and I am interested in emergency and critical care medicine, I decided to go to …
Continuity of Care
Medical student Madeleine reflects on challenges in medical adherence stemming from gaps in education about the disease as well as a lack of social and psychological support.
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”
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.
Mental Incarceration
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.
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.
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.
The Imposter
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.
Medical Student Contributor
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
Hello! I am a fourth-year medical student from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine hoping to go into dermatology. I am passionate about serving underserved communities through the art of medicine and providing specialty care to those who need it most. I enjoy learning from my fellow students' experiences and hope to help someone along the way with my story.