An excerpt from Diary of a Medical Student. As a medical student, you find potential patients everywhere. Whether you’re on an airplane or on a romantic dinner date, we’ve all heard those famous words, “Is there a doctor in the house?!” Here are some o…
Around Thanksgiving, the ceiling light that illuminates most of my apartment burned out. I still haven’t replaced it. Instead, I use the flashlight app on my phone to get dressed every morning; and I’m constantly tripping over my shoes, bac…
“Doctors are people, and people are capable of prejudice and discrimination. But, in medicine, there is no place for prejudice and discrimination because a patient’s life is at stake. Stereotyping a customer and assuming that they cannot afford a…
The current socio-political environment in the U.S. and worldwide has brought much-needed attention and heightened awareness to the plights of minoritized groups, especially Black and African-American communities. Police brutality, structural violence,…
One day recently, while working as a nursing assistant, I heard a shrill, gravely cry for help pierce the air in the hallway of the long-term memory care facility where I work. I sprinted to the room where the pleading call was coming from, and in the …
The medical school admission process can be overwhelming. There is no definitive path that guarantees admission. Prospective students are meant to create their own way that could bring them an acceptance letter. That is why some individuals with a 3.6 …
Last November, our medical school’s community faced a devastating loss, as second-year student R took her own life. As she was rushed to our hospital’s emergency room, some of R’s classmates, as well as her physician mentor, were on rotation and bared …
A message appeared in the chatbox. “Always trust the parents. If they think the shunt has failed, more likely than not, they’re right.” It was one of the two fifth-year neurosurgery residents, both present on the video platform for virtual clinic to mo…
The long debate about rationality and conformity in both medicine and religion has been intense on many levels. Some people claim science requires certainty, validity, and reliability; others believe faith and optimism are essential for scientific adva…
With the advent of GPS, the need for self-directed navigation has all but vanished. We find ourselves at the mercy of and indebted to the wisdom of our devices. Occasionally given choices for route preference based on directness, speed limits, or tolls…
