Partial eclipse of the heart
Perry Dinardo Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States “Crescent Sun + Lens Flare” by Phil Bruxvoort is licensed under CC PDM 1.0. In early August 2017, the nation was buzzing about an upcoming total solar eclipse. I had been immersed in news about the eclipse for weeks, and decided it would be absolutely necessary for me to […]
Regalia
Nancy L. Hagood Charleston, South Carolina, United States Rainbow over Haiti. Photo by Thomas Johnston. My medical school graduation regalia has hung in my closet for two years. It will never be worn. In spring 2019, I was a fourth-year medical student, planning to graduate in May and move 500 miles north to work […]
Unmasked
Kelley Zhao Stony Brook, New York, United States Illustration by Sherry Xiao. Provided by the artist. The lecture hall was freezing on the first day of medical school orientation. The room was buzzing with students meeting one another, and the familiar phrases floated around me as I took my seat. “Where are you from?” […]
Engage the emotions
Florence Gelo Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). The Taking of Christ, 1602 Oil on canvas. 135.5 x 169.5 cm L.14702. On indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland from the Jesuit Community, Leeson St., Dublin, who acknowledge the kind generosity of the late Dr Marie Lea-Wilson, 1992 Photo © […]
Certifying clinical competence: principles from the caliphate of al-Muqtadir
Faraze Niazi Jack Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, United States Dinar of al-Muqtadir. Dated 910/911. Credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. CC BY-SA 2.5 “The devil is always in the details.” “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” –Two Old Wise Sayings Certifying clinical competence has virtually universal support. After all, […]
Are we culturally tone-deaf?
Clara Koo New York, United States Hahoe Folk Village Mask Dance. Ian Sewell. July 2008. Accessed via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 2.5 The cultural norms of American medicine are speciously like those of traditional Korean culture, but the differences place Korean-American students at a disadvantage. When I began my third year of medical school, a […]
Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—The Chicago Maternity Center
Peter H. Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Image by Stephanie Pratt from Pixabay My group and I were assigned to the Chicago Maternity Center at the end of the obstetrics in November 1955. Despite the recent training at Michael Reese, nothing could have prepared me for […]
Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—Clerkships at Michael Reese Hospital
Peter H. Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Michael Reese Hospital. Postcard by Curt Teich. 1950. No known copyright for Curt Teich postcards printed before 1964. After Cook County, my group and I moved over to Michael Reese Hospital—a pile of old buildings on the […]
Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—Clerkship at Cook County Hospital
Peter H. Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Post Mortem Examination by Prof. Ludvig Hektoen at the Cook County Morgue Chicago Ill. March 3rd 1897. Photographer unknown. Ward 64, the only female medical ward at Cook County Hospital, was to be the home base for […]
Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—The Chicago Medical School
Peter H. Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Compound monocular microscope. Graduated grey background. Credit: Science Museum, London. CC BY Chicago Med was the poor relation among the medical schools ringing Cook County Hospital. The sooty three-story building was dwarfed by the high rises of […]