This category contains reflections on how students maintain their mental health in school and deal with the stress of burnout.
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!
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.
Through his brief poem, medical student Allen Bell opines about the predictable responses of the health care establishment to physician burnout.
Resident Contributing Writer
F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine - Uniformed Services University
Allen is a recent graduate from the Uniformed Services University and an Intern at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. He was born in Germany and moved to Missouri when he was 12. In 2015, he graduated from the University of Missouri - Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. Before starting medical school in 2017, he worked as an Assistant Manager of a plasma donation center, a live-in Volunteer Firefighter/AEMT, and he co-founded a company with his best friend from college. He enjoys restoring a 1977 F-150, hiking, and spending time with his puppy and his wife, who also happens to be an Intern at Walter Reed.
