By Betsy Cha, M1, Class of 2023

Cygnus (3’x4′, Fluid acrylics)
I’ve never really considered myself to be an artist. I grew up enjoying pencil sketching and took some high school classes, but compared to the talent of the true creative and artistic minds around me, expression of my right brain felt forced. This hobby, like many, was pushed to the side by the ever expanding time commitment to medical school and residency.
Continue reading “Anatomically Correct”
Everyone has a story, and each story is unique, intimate, and powerful. Our Narrative series invites you to step inside someone else’s life by reading their story, as told in their own words. Readers, please come open-minded and ready to engage in one of the many stories that makes our community complete. The following is the narrative of Jack Ayres, a first-year medical student at KUMC. Continue reading “Jack Ayres, Class of 2023”

Everyone has a story, and each story is unique, intimate, and powerful. Our Narrative series invites you to step inside someone else’s life by reading their story, as told in their own words. Readers, please come open-minded and ready to engage in one of the many stories that makes our community complete. The following is the narrative of Jack Ayres, a first-year medical student at KUMC. Continue reading “Jack Ayres, Class of 2023”
I showed up to group today, a young man in a sweater.
One man was there, tattered sweatshirt and Chiefs ball-cap.
Two others walked in, both gay but not together.
An old man followed, grey hair, torn jeans.
Finally a woman, young and anxious,
joined our little commune.
[Featured below] are two “starter” embroidery pieces I found patterns for, and I decided to try my hand at embroidery as an outlet for some stress and anxiety during my second year. I learned to sew from both of my grandmothers and how to cross stitch from my mom at a very young age, and in college I did some free-hand embroidery on a jean jacket I wore all of the time. I got tons of compliments on the anatomical heart and eye that I did on my jacket, and found that embroidery was similar to basic sewing, but with so much more of an artistic flair. It is basically painting, but instead of using paint, you create the color and texture using embroidery floss (fancy thread). Embroidery can be very difficult, but the finished pieces are so beautiful and satisfying that it more than makes up for the time I spent on them and the number of times I stabbed myself with needles!
Continue reading “On Pins and Needles”
MCAT’s. Pre-med classes. Applications. This trifecta of medical school requirements brings chills to the most accomplished of medical students and especially more-so to college students aspiring to become doctors. Pre-med students face many obstacles that can make the application process extremely overwhelming. Often questions arise such as “What classes should I take?” or “Who should I find as a mentor?” Luckily there are two first year medical students at KUMC who are happy to help. First year medical students Kiatana Ferguson-Square and Florence Osei created a podcast called “Melanin in Medicine”, which aims to provide advice to aspiring medical students, discuss their own experiences with medicine, and interview others in the medical field.
Miranda Machacek, M4, Class of 2020
I laid my original white coat to rest at a beach in Auckland, New Zealand after my final day of an international clinical rotation. White coat disposal ceremonies are a tradition I must confess I have greatly anticipated. I had grown to resent that coat and what it meant. Its characteristic short length was an immediate signal to any healthcare professional in the hospital that I was a student – perhaps to some savvy patients as well. I frequently felt the weight of the “student” label while walking through the hospital. The real or imagined looks of patients, nurses, residents, and attendings that said I was a temporary time-waster at best and utterly incompetent at worst.
There is something special about seeing a movie in theaters. In the wake of the current crisis, not being able to has probably been one of the simplest pleasures that I’ve come to miss the most. Before the social distancing measures, each Friday was an opportunity to go out and see a movie. On B weeks especially, this weekly tradition offered a chance to celebrate or escape the two weeks before.
There is something special about seeing a movie in theaters. In the wake of the current crisis, not being able to has probably been one of the simplest pleasures that I’ve come to miss the most. Before the social distancing measures, each Friday was an opportunity to go out and see a movie. On B weeks especially, this weekly tradition offered a chance to celebrate or escape the two weeks before.