Medical Student Contributing Writer
Albany Medical College
Medha has a deep-rooted passion for aiding the underserved, especially the migrant and refugee community. As a future physician, she hopes to use her skills to provide equitable healthcare to those in need.
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 Race Track – 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.
Medical student Varesh Gorabi is reminded of the importance of empathy during a seemingly routine clinic visit.
Medical student Bassel Salka finds opportunities to improve health care by reading works of humorists, fiction writers, and philosophers.
Rural Health is an important but often overlooked sub-specialty in medicine. This piece gives insight to the intricacies of patient care and transport, rural health policy, and the rich, long-term relationships developed in the lives of current practicing rural health physicians.
Intern Ervin Anies assesses the expectation versus the reality of the responsibilities medical students and residents are expected to manage.
Emma Stenz’s first time witnessing a patient’s death helped her realize the role of a physician in maintaining emotional composure and acting with nonmaleficence towards the patient, both in life and in death.
In this piece, Afua Ofori-Darko discusses how medical education has focused on tokenism on a way to achieve diversity. Specifically, Afua discusses her journey as the token Black girl and how tokenism harms URiM students and the institutions to which they belong.
Having been born and raised in Iran, Negin Khosravi has experienced horrors that are untold. As ongoing protests happen in Iran and as an aspiring physician leader, Negin hopes to shed some light on what is happening and advocate for people. It is time for racism, discrimination and lack of freedom to end.
Rachel Lawson describes her challenging experiences during her first year of medical school at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and how her experience was profoundly impacted by a vaccination clinic.
The Ward as Medicine is about how one’s fellow patients on the psychiatry ward can act as mirrors, teachers and inspirations to a patient. Specifically, it is about a mom who, hospitalized for suicidality stemming from her guilt and anger over how she has mothered her children, gets reconnected with the identity of motherhood while interacting with others on the unit.
Medical student MacKenzie Adams reflects on her experience with a patient who received news that he was dying via an interpreter. She addresses the importance of improving care for non-English speakers.
Medical student Denisha McCurchin shares one of her final moments in the hospital with her grandmother who had a stroke. She tells the story through the senses of sight and hearing and reflects on the care she wishes her grandmother received as well as the care she endeavors to deliver as a future doctor.
Medical Student Contributing Writer
CUNY School of Medicine
Denisha McCurchin is a Class of 2025 medical student at the CUNY School of Medicine. Outside of school, she sings, manages a YouTube channel, and enjoys community service.
