This category contains a collection of moments students have had with their patients that helped renew their purpose in the field.
Medical Student Contributing Writer, Columnist
Indiana University School of Medicine
Allen is a fourth-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. Allen plans on pursuing a career in Radiology.
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.
Alicia Pugh writes a poem that reflects on how our backgrounds impact the way we view our patients.
Future physician Yomna Amer broaches the topic of religion in the clinical environment and opines that, along with diversity, it can be used as a powerful therapeutic tool to connect with patients.
Health care providers face what seem to be insurmountable challenges on a daily basis; none more sobering than the inhumanities and tragedies that often occur when on the clock. Medical student Nicholas Czelatka gives his perspective on what quality health care truly means.
Medical student Sidney Adenya recollects a particularly momentous patient experience, which exemplified how words can be a strikingly powerful therapeutic tool of a physician. Read more to find out how this helped him reaffirm his passion for medicine through this reflective piece.
As a storyteller, the author vowed to lead with the person’s name in an effort to uplift the subject of the story. This all changed when the author began anatomy lab during medical school.
Unhealthy relationship exist in the world of health care and beyond. Medical student Alesia Voice explores, through this poem, how to operate within a significant imbalance in relationships.
Fourth-year medical student Bianca Nguyen likens one of her doctor-patient relationships to a blueprint on how to refine the skill of negotiation as a health care provider. Read more to find out the pearls she gleaned from these encounters.
Medical student Lewis Wong describes what he gleaned from a seemingly run-of-the-mill clinical encounter with a 14-year-old refugee in his pediatric rotation, and how this sparked introspection into the lessons learned along his medical school journey as well as the core values he hopes to imbue as a community physician.
“Medicine is about so much more. Medicine includes teaching, caring and sharing empathy with others.” Read more to hear about how Negin Khosravi’s experience with one of her pediatric patients and her stuffed animal reignited her passion for medicine.
“After the surgery, I could, at last, bolt out the door to play with Andrew and those other boys. I could run wild. I could finally be a normal kid.” Medical student Varun Jain takes the reader into his past and dives into the associated challenges and emotions associated with living with and overcoming a heart condition.
This painting represents a growing “discontinuity” between patients and doctors, depicted by caduceus dividing the doctor and patient. Medical providers are burdened with paperwork, long hours, less time for relaxation, family, and to recharge.
Medical Student Contributing Writer
Albany Medical College
I was originally born in Afghanistan and lived in Russia before immigrating to the US. After spending a few years in Michigan, my family moved to Los Angeles where I attended high school and college at UCLA.
