Opinions

Dominic Moog, BA Dominic Moog, BA (1 Posts)

Medical Student Guest Writer

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Dom Moog is a fourth-year medical student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a transfeminine individual of nonbinary experience. Dom hails from the Twin Cities of Minnesota and attended the University of Southern California, where they received a Bachelor of Arts in Gender and Sexuality Studies. This educational background and a lifetime of personal experiences inspire their interest in psychiatry with emphases on marginalized peoples, economic justice, substance use disorders, and community building as a pillar of psychiatric wellness work. Dom co-founded The Shades Project St. Louis in 2022, a grassroots non-profit organization focused on the intersections of health, community, and art, and serves as Director of Development at the School of Opulence in Chicago. Dom also sings with the St. Louis Chamber Chorus and is an avid participant and budding leader in the queer Ballroom community.




Our Haus, Our Humanity: Lessons from the Queer Community That Can Help Heal Medicine

Published by Dominic Moog, BA

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.

Thank a Resident Day

Published by Alexandra Moschella, BSN

I did not learn in nursing school what and who is a resident physician. It was briefly mentioned that the attending was in charge with residents below them, and that was the beginning and the end of the discussion on residents. But at the end of my first year as a new nurse on a medical floor, I could recite the names of the internal medicine doctors I spent my days and nights mostly working with — residents. By the time I left that job, I knew just a few of the attendings’ full names.

Restoring American Aid for Yemeni Child Health

Published by Matthew Murray, MD, MA

End-stage starvation is rare, but devastating. After exhausting its fat stores, the body breaks down its organs for energy: muscle, liver, kidney and finally the heart. The blood itself becomes toxic, in a dangerously narrow balance between brain death and cardiac arrest. As a pediatrician, I wish to protect all children from these symptoms. But as an American taxpayer, I worry about my contribution to the starvation of children in Yemen. President Biden recently announced …

Our Acts of Freedom: A Physician-Advocate’s Perspective

Published by Melissa Palma, MD, MPH

On the morning of January 6, I awoke ecstatic to the news of Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s predicted wins in the Georgia run-off elections. To be frank, I have become hesitant to hope while inured by the near-daily attacks on civil rights by the Trump administration via executive orders and federal policies. Over the past four years, I witnessed with pride — but also fear — as community activists tirelessly organized to combat racist policies.

A Reflection on Autonomy and Suicide in the Face of Multicultural Religious Beliefs

Published by Panna Patel, DO

Above all else, do no harm. This is a basic tenet of a physician’s oath, but this oath does not always align with the religious and cultural beliefs of each patient. In cases where beliefs of faith, salvation or religion play a major factor in a patient’s desire to commit suicide, it can be difficult to draw the line between the traditional ethical guidelines of patient autonomy and non-maleficence.

Do Individuals from Low-Income Families Belong in Medicine? (Yes!)

Published by Amy Zhang, MD, MBA

Recently, several attending physicians sparked controversy on Twitter by implying that low-income medical students or trainees should not pursue careers in medicine. While these tweets have since been deleted, the systemic injustices that they echo still ring in the highest levels of modern medical education. As a medical trainee from an impoverished household, I have spent almost my entire post-secondary education and medical training as part of an invisible demographic.

It Is Right to Leave: Rank List Decisions as a Minoritized Medical Trainee

Published by Chase T.M. Anderson, MD, MS

My fingers tense. Frozen not of my own accord. I want to do this, but I can’t. I need to do this, yet the anxiety grips at my mind and throat, stalling what should be an easy decision. As a Black, gay medical student in my fourth year, what I’m about to do has so many repercussions and permutations. So much so that I feel stuck, unable to be decisive when decisiveness is necessary.

The Unspoken

Published by Julieta Rodriguez, MD, MPH

I have finally had enough. As a health care provider, COVID-19 brought about a lot of uncertainty and many changes in preparation for what might unfold. But over the last few months, the social unrest surrounding police brutality and the disproportionate occurrence of these cases towards people of color has added to my physical exhaustion by conflating it with both emotional and mental fatigue. After 32 years of tolerating systemic racism, it is finally my turn to say something.

Physician, Activist — Does One Preclude the Other?

Published by Shalini Shah, DO

When do you leap into the unknown and venture into the uncomfortable? Is it after methodical deliberation or is it much more abrupt, emboldened by a critical decision? Perhaps it is a deep drive within you, one that propels you forward in a way in which you cannot look back.

Ashley Cheek, DO Ashley Cheek, DO (3 Posts)

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus and Former Social Media Manager

Memorial Health University Medical Center

Ashley recently completed her pediatric residency and served as chief resident. In 2020, she graduated with honors from Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2012, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Oral Roberts University. Throughout her medical journey, she has mentored students in Campbell’s MSBS program, inspired high school students through Envision National Youth Leadership Conference, and served as a childcare volunteer for the Campbell Community Christmas Store. Her interests include reading, writing, watching Hallmark movies, and spending time with her family (especially through vacations to Disney World & Dollywood). She hopes to contribute encouragement and inspiration to current & future medical students, residents, and fellows.