September 2015, a few weeks into my first year of medical school. Mr. Smith (John) (identifying information and event details altered to protect confidentiality) wore an orange jumpsuit with the letters “COUNTY JAIL” running down his right …
Category: Education
How a young girl helped me find the light in pediatrics
“You’re going to fall in love with her,” the nurse warned me, as I stood outside my eleven-year-old patient’s room ready to wake her up for surgery pre-rounds at 5:30 a.m. I offered back a tired smile and knocked on the door timidly. “Naomi?” I whisper…
How a young girl helped me find the light in pediatrics
“You’re going to fall in love with her,” the nurse warned me, as I stood outside my eleven-year-old patient’s room ready to wake her up for surgery pre-rounds at 5:30 a.m. I offered back a tired smile and knocked on the door timidly. “Naomi?” I whisper…
Treating the patient’s body is not synonymous with treating the patient
We recently had a patient who arrived on our service in the intensive care unit after a complicated surgery. The surgery left him close to dying, and he was immediately put on life support and given heavy sedatives. Ventilators breathed for him. Specia…
How to foster and encourage genuine, curious learning in a medical student
I just had a conversation with a physician and faculty member at my school. He started the conversation like this: “It’s alright if you disagree with me, and I can disagree with you too. Good academic discourse should allow people to disagree with each…
The fight to save Howard University College of Medicine
Our country is at risk of losing an iconic institution that has played a pivotal role in the history of medical education. A school, which has produced some of the boldest pioneers in medicine, could lose accreditation upon the opening of a new hospita…
The day when the white coat can be worn with no hesitation at all
It was my first day of orientation at medical school. In a hallway stood a coat rack overflowing with white garments. I set down my accumulated papers, reached for a hanger and — for the first time ever — shrugged first one arm and then the other into …
A medical student takes a look into the abyss. Here’s what he learned.
After my surgery rotation, I was in a very bad place. I felt like two months of grueling work hours and relentless studying were wiped away in an instant by a bad test score. That single number somehow mattered more to me than every positive comment I …
What this physician learned by helping a medical student write a personal statement
“A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Several years ago, an anxious senior medical student was preparing his application for The Match, the clearinghouse through which 37,000 candidates ho…
A medical student as a patient. She thanks her support systems.
Two weeks ago, while I was helping with an emergency medicine course that I’m a teaching assistant for, I started feeling extremely light-headed, and the chest tightness that I had dismissed as heartburn earlier that morning got worse. I was tended to …
