Written by: KUMC School of Medicine
Read on for holiday rituals that include Christmas eve, pajamas, Run DMC, cats, sleepovers, Indian food, Chinese food, and more. Continue reading “Holiday Rituals”
Holiday Rituals
Tag: Writing
Bypass
Linzy Kirkpatrick, M1, Class of 2023
The iridescent glow of cellophane windows
wraps the building in a blanket of fuchsia and blue,
a playful dance of colors that shift
as I walk past. It’s the first
of many similar days to come.
The corridors whisk me through a
playful maze, a tenuous
barrier between the parents
who wait for news and those of us who
witness it.
The Stone Discovered
Connor Stubblefield, M2, Class of 2022
Hidden down in darkest cloister, depth of all the earth, a Stone, directed slowly upward through layers of time and story, waited.
The Stone was defined, yet not, sequestered mystery, definition down, dampened, the mirror darkened. Continue reading “The Stone Discovered”
A Week In Hell
Nathan Stacy, M2, Class of 2022
My momma was recently diagnosed with cancer of her jaw. She underwent something called a “Flap Surgery”, which removed part of her jaw and replaced it with her leg bone. These are some of my reflections about the experience my family went through during this trying time. I wrote some during this time period, and some afterwards, so the past-tense/present-tense jumps around a little bit.
Creativity Intervenes
Miranda Heppler, M2, Class of 2022
Lounging through the midday once again
Clouds looming, window ajar, my mind’s unable to attend
To the task at hand: commitment to learning; endless memorization
I wish I could exude more dedication to attaining this vocation Continue reading “Creativity Intervenes”
The Tumor Board
Ben Harstine, M3, Class of 2021
Round the table
Sit one by one
We talk, we vote
Another decision done.
Sixty-five and sick
Tumor load too large
Surgery? No.
Chemo? No.
Radiation No.
It must be time to go on.
Next.
Eighty-seven
A tumor again
One more shot
Hope not lost,
Decisions begin
Schrödinger’s Residency Application: Reflecting on My Life as a Student
Daniel Ortiz, M4, Class of 2020
Two interviews in and I feel like I’m saying too much and getting it all wrong. They’re going to hate my scores. What if they don’t like my answers? Why am I so anxious? I just want this to be the right place for me. This might sound like that time we all applied to medical school, but I’m referring to residency interviews as a fourth-year medical student.
Continue reading “Schrödinger’s Residency Application: Reflecting on My Life as a Student”
Lessons From Huck Finn: Reliable Narration in Medicine
Nate Cameron, M1, Class of 2023
“and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another…”
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
The first time I discovered books could lie to me was the summer before seventh grade, laboring through Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain’s novel opens in an almost confessional tone, explaining to me— the dedicated reader— that another novel couldn’t be trusted to fully tell the truth. In this way, I stumbled upon what literary people call “unreliable narrators.” The experience was one of my first storytelling revelations— characters possessed the capacity to withhold, modify, or even forget information in the stories I was reading. Huck Finn planted seeds of awareness, if not distrust, for future narrators I would encounter.
Continue reading “Lessons From Huck Finn: Reliable Narration in Medicine”
Farmland
Nathan Stacy, M2, Class of 2022
My fiancé’s Grandpa is a man you won’t easily forget. He commands a room. A natural born storyteller, with 80 years of experience spinning yarns, he can paint a vivid picture that completely draws you in, in a heartbeat.
He was spinning one of his yarns to me as we took his 4-wheeler (the Gator) to tour his farm fields. Continue reading “Farmland”
Reach for the Moon, End up a Fleming
David Embers, M4, Class of 2020
I remember 4th grade like it was yesterday, likely because that is when I peaked. It could have been a fun year, but unfortunately for me, it wasn’t. You see, my podmates all had cooties. You read that right, ALL of my podmates. It was me and three girls: Brooke, Sasha, and Rebecca. All confirmed cooties. What a joke. In hindsight, Mrs. Stevenson did it on purpose because she knew me and my best friend Josh were tight as heck and could have basically taught the class if we wanted to. But whatever.
Anyway, at the front of the room above the chalkboard was a poster. “Reach for the moon, and even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.” It was catchy. No lie, the first few times I read that it gave me goosebumps. Thought I might just mess around and change the world. Made me want to be extra precise on the folds for my construction paper popper that would inevitably get taken away before recess. Made me want to be somebody.
Now, looking back, I laugh at 4th grade David. In fact, I want to slap him in the back of the head. Continue reading “Reach for the Moon, End up a Fleming”
