Tag: humanity

Aishwarya Gautam Aishwarya Gautam (1 Posts)

Medical Student Contributing Writer

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Aish is a fourth year medical student applying to internal medicine. She is interested in narrative medicine and women's health. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and playing board games.




Three Sentiments

Medical student recollects hospitalization with pneumonia as a pivotal childhood experience that shaped his values. The care he received from dedicated clinicians and his family instilled trust and resilience, inspiring his pursuit of medicine. These reflections resurfaced during his white coat ceremony, affirming his commitment to embodying these principles in his future practice.

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.

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?”

Triple Crown

Medha Palnati describes an encounter she had with a patient who she met at the Backstretch Clinic, a clinic that serves the undocumented workers that care for the horses at the racetrack, as he was having a myocardial infarction. This encounter highlights the conversation Medha had with this patient while waiting for the ambulance to transport him to the hospital, and the solace that they found in each other in that moment.

Bassel Salka Bassel Salka (2 Posts)

Medical Student Contributing Writer

University of Michigan School Medical School

Bassel is a fourth year medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School. He aspires to synthesize the technical skills he developed as an engineer with the clinical skills he's learned as a medical student to improve patient outcomes.