The White Coat Ceremony was initiated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993. A White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage now takes place at nearly all U.S. medical schools and schools in several other countries. The receipt of the white coat, a symbol of the medical profession, is a symbolic undertaking to … Continue reading White Coat Ceremony: Reflections from the Class of 2027
The Interstitium
The Waiting Game
Please note that names and places have been changed to protect patient confidentiality. When I first met Mr. McCready, I was on week one of my first third year clerkship, starting out on the inpatient gastroenterology team. I was told the team had a lot of “liver patients” with a bit of a groan from … Continue reading The Waiting Game
On watching a student learn something new
It is during our teaching of second year when we take our students, go into the hospital, and talk and examine patients as students learn how to put together all that they have learned so far to gather a complete history and physical. “Pay attention to timing,” we say, hoping that this instruction will help, … Continue reading On watching a student learn something new
White Coat Ceremony: Reflections from the Class of 2026
The White Coat Ceremony was initiated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation in 1993. A White Coat Ceremony or similar rite of passage now takes place at nearly all U.S. medical schools and schools in several other countries. The receipt of the white coat, a symbol of the medical profession, is a symbolic undertaking to … Continue reading White Coat Ceremony: Reflections from the Class of 2026
Mangia!
Mangia! Mangia! Growing up in an Italian household in New York, this was probably the first Italian word I ever learned. With this incantation, my great Aunt Frances would implore us to eat up at every meal. She wouldn't take no for an answer. Cooking for us was her love language. After we all dug … Continue reading Mangia!
Child is Wealth
There are few memories of Aunt Polly that don't inevitably leave me with grief. She gave me countless piggyback rides. She loved the corny plots of old Nigerian movies. She snuck me candies during family gatherings. Her favorite foods were red palm oil beans and fried plantain. I was her favorite niece. Aunt Polly was … Continue reading Child is Wealth
Softball
This story is based on a clinical experience. Names and other details have been changed to protect the identities of the patient and family. The patient consented to the essay being submitted in its current form. The surgery went into extra innings. The tumor was the size of a softball, and it had invaded into … Continue reading Softball
Siren and the Shattered Mirror
Fanny walks back to the rented basement, shivering in the cold It is getting dark now; New England winters, bold. She left her heart in her homeland, where her mother stays alone. This is workplace, she couldn't call it home. For last two and a half years, she is longing to go home. Fanny is … Continue reading Siren and the Shattered Mirror
Being Useful
My ringtone, set to full blast, jolted me out of a deep sleep and filled me with visceral fear. The name of my supervising resident illuminated on my phone, beckoning me to the first on-call night shift of my medical career. Ten minutes later, I watched as two surgeons, several nurses, an anesthesiologist and many … Continue reading Being Useful
The Bed Alarm
In three robotic chirps, the bed alarm responds,To a one-sided conversation going nowhere.“Please don’t get up, your son isn’t there!”In three robotic chirps, the bed alarm responds.They are taken out of bed, placed in a chairEyed watchfully across from the nurses’ station, lest they abscond.In three robotic chirps, the bed alarm responds,To a one-sided conversation … Continue reading The Bed Alarm
The Interstitium 