This category contains reflections on how students maintain their mental health in school and deal with the stress of burnout.
Medical Student Contributing Writer
CUNY School of Medicine
Saud is a first generation third year medical student at the CUNY School of medicine from Brooklyn. Saud has interests in interventional radiology, patient centered care, and educational medicine. Saud uses poetry and artistic visuals as a form of expression & catharsis. His other interests include hiking, bike-riding, cooking, and basketball.
Medical student Saud Rehman has written a collection of poems focusing on the lockdown of March 2020 with artwork to give a visual representation of how he felt. Often times the manifestations of moods unrelated to coursework go overlooked, especially in medicine, and Saud hopes that these provide a representation of the humanity behind students going through difficult times.
Dr. Evin Anies utilizes haiku about systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) to reflect on his journey as a newly-minted physician.
Zain Khawaja, a medical student, discusses his experience as a mentee and provides insight on creating social support networks via mentorship.
Henry Zou, an Asian American fourth-year medical student, reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and finds courage and hope.
Medical student Micaela Torres reflects on her progress in healing past traumas and improving her mental health.
“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 …
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.
Medical student Olivia Dhaliwal reflects on the weight of medical school and her feelings of “hollow”
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.
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 Shivani Sundaram underscores the daily struggles and reality faced by those with dementia and memory disorders through a recognizably “normal” conversation.
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.
Medical Student Contributing Writer
Central Michigan University College of Medicine
I am a 4th year medical student at Central Michigan University College of Medicine. I am applying to surgery for residency and my favorite activities include writing, playing my guitar, painting, and crocheting!
