Category: Medical school

How death is a blessing and a burden

Our goal in medical school is to learn how to preserve the quality of life. Yet, in order to better understand human life, we are immediately faced with death by means of anatomy lab. From week one, we are tasked with removing the skin and fat from a c…

7 ideas for an alternative Match Day

As a cardiologist, a mom of three school-aged kids, a physician’s wife, and associate dean of student affairs, I am acutely aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our communities. In this time of constant change and concern, it is important to…

7 reflections on grief and personal loss as told by a medical student

Being a medical student during your clinical years imparts a certain feeling of invincibility. For many of us, this is our first-time taking care of patients. Our history-taking and physical exam skills are being honed like superpowers. Our clinical kn…

Medical students are more than just numbers

Student G.M is a 228. When she came to our school, she was a 31. When she went to college, she was a 1270. Now we must make this number a caring, feeling person who has the empathy to impact the lives of patients for decades. Makes sense, right? Wrong!…

How can you determine a Caribbean medical school’s quality?

If you open Google and do a search for “Caribbean medical schools,” it will quickly become clear to you that not everyone is a fan, but just because something doesn’t work for one person doesn’t necessarily mean it hasn’t worked for hundreds. Establish…

Kobe Bryant’s memory should serve as a reminder to enjoy life to its fullest

On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant passed away. People all across the world have been impacted in different ways. Two weeks have passed, and Kobe is still the main topic of conversation on social media. To each person, Kobe meant something special. To ma…

Entitlement, arrogance, and isolation in modern-day medical practice

I recently read a medical school commencement, delivered by a physician, that was both inspiring and sadly reminiscent of what physicians should aspire to throughout their careers. This physician relayed how patients throughout her training and career …

What makes health care workers superhuman

“So, the next step in the history taking process is to define the pain. You start this by asking for site, with questions like, “Where are you experiencing the pain? Can you pinpoint the site or is it more general? Does the pain radiate (spread anywher…

The physician and the sacred art of medicine

Corpses. A sea of corpses. The smell of death was unmistakable. Its pungent odor snaked around corridors and made its way to the basement, where we stood in line to go up to the anatomy lab for the first time. My heart was racing. All along the walls w…

How 5-year-olds brought out the joy of learning in medical students

Last week, Lais and Yuri, our five-year-old twins, were volunteers at the school of medicine, for students to learn how to examine children. Full disclosure: Volunteers do get a gift card. Therefore, I asked them if they wanted to “work and get s…