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.
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Medical Student Contributing Writer
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
Jake Bardell is a member of the Class of 2022 at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He is interested in pursuing a career in Urology. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma in Religious Studies and is currently completing an MA in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In his free time, he enjoys reading, snowboarding, and spending time with friends and family. For him, writing provides an avenue for processing and creativity.
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.
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.
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.
Hustle and Heart
Medical student Navjot Singh teaches us how to surmount racism with composure, grace, and courage.
A Visceral Experience
Medical student Micaela Mcgregor gives profound advice to other future black doctors who will one day represent only 4% of practicing American physicians.
What Is In a Name?
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.
The Difficult Patient
Medical student Allen Betts explores the often underrated effect of psychosocial determinants and the integral part they play in the influencing health and well-being. Read more to find out how he has come to appreciate the soft skills a physician gleans through patient encounters rather than through books.
One Day
Alicia Pugh writes a poem that reflects on how our backgrounds impact the way we view our patients.
Disparities in the Management of Cardiovascular Diseases in Women
Jean Anne Adomfeh unravels a common gender bias, contained in diagnosing chest pain, that has existed in medicine for decades and how through a few simple yet profound words of a teacher, combined with experiences along the way, she is inspired to help change the narrative.
The Pause
Katherine Panushka asks readers to reflect and acknowledge that our patients’ stories extend beyond their final moments in her poem, “The Pause.”
Headlights
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 Contributing Writer
University of Utah School of Medicine
Joaquin is a second-year medical student at the University of Utah School of Medicine with a BS in Medical Laboratory Sciences. He looks forward to eventually specialize in pediatric oncology. His pursuit in medicine is motivated by God, his wife, and his parents.