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.
Because medicine reflects the commonality of human struggles, healthcare workers can see parallels between their patients’ lives and their own. This piece speaks to the impact that witnessing tough patient encounters can have on healthcare workers.
These poem stanzas help to provide further fidelity on the small specialty that is Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R). While many other specialties focus on specific organs, “our organ” is function and this piece hopefully sheds some light on how we preserve it and improve it in all the patients we treat.
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.
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?”
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.
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.
Medical student Varesh Gorabi is reminded of the importance of empathy during a seemingly routine clinic visit.
Dr. Ervin Anies explores the struggles and emotional turmoil of medical training, ultimately finding acceptance and self-worth.
Medical student Saud Rehman has written a collection of poems focusing on the lockdown of March 2020 with artwork to give a visual representation of how he felt. Often times the manifestations of moods unrelated to coursework go overlooked, especially in medicine, and Saud hopes that these provide a representation of the humanity behind students going through difficult times.
Dr. Evin Anies utilizes haiku about systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) to reflect on his journey as a newly-minted physician.
Entering the field of medicine can be daunting, especially if you are the first physician in the family. Current intern Dr. Ervin Anies discusses the emotions associated with assimilating into the culture of medicine and how we as providers can use our diversity to foster better relationships between providers and our patients.
Medical student Olivia Dhaliwal reflects on the weight of medical school and her feelings of “hollow”
Resident Contributing Writer, Editor
MAHEC Boone Rural FMR
Olivia is a resident at MAHEC Boone Rural FMR, OH. Born and raised in Erie, PA (and sort of California, too) she has lived in eight different states since starting college and took a roundabout journey to medicine. She hopes to pursue rural family medicine, with a focus on integrative and preventative medicine. When not studying, she is likely to be found working out at CrossFit, practicing yoga, reading fiction, writing poetry, spending time outside with her rescue pitbull Baylor, or traveling to her next adventure.
