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.
In the 3rd grade I made a declaration, regarding my future occupation – I would one day be a physician, specifically, a pediatrician! Devoted to serving and caring for others, like the one who cared for me, my sister, and brothers Of course, I did not know what this would entail and never considered that I could fail. How could I have anticipated that my ambitions might just leave me deflated? Starting in college, there …
For the baby who’s been battered and bruised and for the adolescent already multiple times abused. For the children whose lives are so full of pain that they think their days are lived in vain. For parents overwhelmed with grief over a precious life that was far too brief. For the siblings who grow up too soon, as they watch how their loved ones are consumed. For the gaping hole that can never be filled, …
Still lungs. / Silent heart. / Time of death: 2:40.
Wrinkly face and wonky head; I support your wobbly neck. No matter the emotion, you respond with a cry.
It was the most joyful of times. It was the most horrific of times. A week before my first child was born,
an act of terror occurred on the other side of the world.
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.
Hello, come in, / and welcome to peds clinic! / My attention is on you / for the next 20 minutes.
Exploring ways to teach nonverbal communication in medical training can prove to be beneficial to physicians in the ICU. One way to teach non-verbal, body-based communication is through the language of the body itself — dance.
Home became a dark / place, and I miss the feeling / of warmth on my face
There was a dark, empty space. / Stillness, / Where there should have been movement.
Your mom gets tetanus (Tdap) / before you’re born, / Plus COVID and flu / are the norm.
During my medical school journey at the University of Maryland, I created this photography series as an introspective representation of my experiences and to portray some of the unseen challenges and realities of medical training that, for example, are not seen on “medfluencer’s” pages — some feelings, experiences, and stories I wish I would have known prior to embarking on this career path.
Resident Physician, Contributing Author
University of Miami/Jackson Health System
Ankur Vaidya is a current PGY3 resident in Internal Medicine/Pediatrics at the University of Miami/Jackson Health System in Miami, FL. He intends on practicing combined adult and pediatric hospital medicine upon graduation. He attained his BS in Biology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and later earned his MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
