Tag: Writing

Literature

55 Word Reflections on COVID-19

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55 Word Reflections on COVID-19

This post was adapted from the University of Washington School of Medicine: https://faculty.uwmedicine.org/55-word-stories/. Likewise, the instructions used to solicit these reflections were adapted from Sheetz, A and Fry, M The Stories, JAMA 2000 Vol 283(15)1934.

Sharing our experiences in health care, especially during intense, emotional, or stressful times increases our connectedness and well-being. Hearing stories from others helps us know we are not alone, and strengthens our community. The authenticity, compassion, creativity, and bravery of our colleagues help us access our own emotions, and helps us carry on. 

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Literature

Bypass

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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.

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Literature

A Week In Hell

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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.

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Literature

The Tumor Board

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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
Literature

Schrödinger’s Residency Application: Reflecting on My Life as a Student

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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.

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Literature

Lessons From Huck Finn: Reliable Narration in Medicine

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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.

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Literature

Farmland

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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” →