Homeschool
Lisa Roskes describes the many lessons learned from my close relationship with her grandmother. Despite choosing a career in pediatrics, these pearls guide her interactions with patients and their families.
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Medical Student Contributing Writer
University of Maryland
Lani Roskes is a third year categorical pediatrics resident at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. She grew up in the Baltimore area and attending the University of Maryland for medical school as well. In her free time, she enjoys sports, board games, arts and crafts and spending time with her family and friends.
Mirrored Resilience: Reflection from a Hospital Bed
The poem describes the profound impact of an encounter between Catherin Potin, the narrator, recovering from a motor vehicle accident, and a young patient with a similar experience. Throughout our interaction, the patient’s strength and resilience illuminate a path towards healing, showing the narrator the power of shared vulnerability in overcoming trauma. This encounter serves as a reminder of the reciprocal nature of healing in medicine and the personal growth that can arise from patient interactions.
15%
Taylor Selby wrote this poem while trying to manage her time between studying for boards and her grandmas birthday party. To her, it means prioritizing her relationships and mental health while still working towards the goal to be an intelligent and caring doctor.
Old Pennies and Jelly Skin
This piece is inspired by a patient encounter with a middle-aged woman who was recently diagnosed with a severe and malignant cancer. I saw her in the primary care setting, and she was undergoing chemotherapy at that time. She had a unique demeanor about her and she shared with me how she waited all her life to do the things she really wanted to do and now she was unable to do a lot of those things. She told me her and her friend now share a joke whenever they are debating doing something fun/risky/random in which they say, “What are you waiting for, chemo?”
The Forgotten Patient
Elise Kao MS3 encounters a struggling addiction patient in the Emergency Department who reinforces their determination to pursue psychiatry and advocate for forgotten patients.
Surgery: Beauty and Violence
Melinda Staub reflects on surgery as a both violence and healing, delving on medicine’s intricate ethical and practical landscape. Through an acrylic painting, she demonstrates her reflections on this topic.
How to Declare Someone Dead: A Brief Reflection
Shannon Fang, medical student, comments on the necessity of processing emotionally stressful encounters in medicine.
Celeste’s Bliss
Medical student Medha Palnati describes barriers to care, and highlights the need for greater awareness and sensitivity in patient care.
The Blessing, The Grocery Store
Medical student Sabrina Lazar discovers a local MENA-owned grocery store that offers not only essential ingredients but also a sense of community.
Misery: A Small Collection of Patients’ Stories
Dr. Marissa Mayfield uses a trio of poems to teleport readers into the reality of medical crises and highlight the need for empathy in healthcare.
Another Chronic Painer
Dr. Ervin Anies introduces a reverse poem to help delve into the multifactorial and complicated picture that is treating chronic pain. His poem reflects the struggles and triumphs a provider can encounter while dealing with chronic pain patients.
76-Year-Old with a Neck Mass
This piece is a reflection of the first few months of Sriya’s clinical years experience. There are a thousand different stories all happening at the same time in the same hospital, and each of them has plenty to learn from and cherish. This piece is a reflection on the privilege that we get as learners and future providers to learn about and from others’ stories.
Medical Student Contributing Writer
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Sriya Donthi completed her Bachelors of History and Philosophy of Medicine and Biology at Case Western Reserve University, where she is now attending medical school. She has been writing poetry since the age of fifteen and enjoys finding ways in which the creative arts and her interest in medicine can connect. Her medical interests are in obstetrics/gynecology and health literacy education.