Finding My Frequency
Fellow physician Dr. Holly Ingram discusses her hearing loss and its effects on her medical training.
Featured
Fellow Physician
Prisma Health
Holly Ingram is currently a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics fellow at Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina. In 2016, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology with minors in chemistry and anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She obtained her MPH from East Carolina University, and in 2022 graduated from Brody SOM with her MD. She completed her pediatric residency in 2025 at Wake Forest SOM in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In her free time, Holly enjoys playing soccer, visiting waterfalls, and spending time with her daughter and husband.
How Mother Dog Welcomed Me to Residency
I was up before dawn, dressed in the comfiest, most adult-looking outfit I owned: a blue-and-white floral blouse, flared maroon pants, and navy walking shoes. After enduring an intense 200-point exam, two grueling weeks of pre-residency (think of it like a two-week job-interview-slash-free-trial), and countless days of calming myself down, it’s time for the real ordeal: my first day of internal medicine residency training.
What Residency Taught Me About Mind and Heart
Third year feels different. Intern year taught me how to work. Every note, every consult, every long night sharpened the mechanics of patient care. You learn to move efficiently, anticipate needs, and steady your hands when everything feels new. It is a year of doing, of survival, of quiet endurance.
The Children Are Worth It
In the 3rd grade I made a declaration,
regarding my future occupation —
I would one day be a physician,
specifically, a pediatrician!
Intern Year: What I Wish Someone Told Me
Intern year is demanding. It gets easier. You will grow. You will build confidence. And one day, you’ll look back and realize just how far you’ve come.
For Whom We Cry
For the baby who’s been battered and bruised / and for the adolescent already multiple times abused.
Most Wonderful Time
‘Twas the day after Christmas and all was not well. In a string of unfortunate events that would make Lemony Snicket jealous, my father had come down with the flu, the presents were indefinitely delayed and I found myself — an internal medicine intern — losing the battle to maintain my consciousness in the team workroom. The holiday season, usually my favorite part of the year, was definitely on my naughty list. At least there …
The Room in the Corner
Still lungs. / Silent heart. / Time of death: 2:40.
Our Haus, Our Humanity: Lessons from the Queer Community That Can Help Heal Medicine
Since the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 protests against systemic racism, efforts toward eradicating the effects of bias and discrimination in medicine has reentered the national consciousness. While this is a good start, it may be better to try to overhaul — or at least make deeper efforts to heal– medicine’s social environment to foster safety and reduce disparately harmful effects of chronic social stress. For this, we can look to the queer community.
Milestones
Wrinkly face and wonky head; I support your wobbly neck. No matter the emotion, you respond with a cry.
HANK YO
My fire escape, green from decades of wear and tear, bears flecks of paint that barely cling after gusts of wind and sheets of snow and showers of rain. Of course, I’m not sitting on this fire escape, but perched inside my kitchen.
Contemplating Death with New Life
Very early in the morning on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, I stumbled into the emergency department with my hair in a tangled mess and accidentally still wearing my house shoes.
Contributing Writer
University of Florida
Melissa went to medical school at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. She is currently a PGY-1 at the University of Florida Pediatrics Residency Program. She is not quite sure where she will end up after residency but has thought a lot about pursuing fellowship training in infectious disease. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys going to local parks and farmer’s markets with her husband and baby. She also enjoys reading sci-fi, writing letters to her awesome pen pal (her 8-year-old nephew), and Facetiming friends and family.