Guest Author
Uwharrie Charter High School
Rachel is a senior at Uwharrie Charter High School with plans of following her oldest sister's path to become a physician. Recently, Rachel was inducted into the Beta Club and served as a junior marshal. By the time she graduates high school, she will already have earned an associates degree from the numerous college courses she has taken simultaneously with her high school classes. Additionally, Rachel is a highly awarded competitive dancer who is passionate about pointe ballet and lyrical acrobatic dance. As someone with an extensive past medical history, born at 27 weeks gestation weighing in at 1.5 pounds, required eight weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, diagnosed with sagittal crainiosynostosis which required cranial vault reconstructive surgery, and then developed hemolytic uremic syndrome at age 1, Rachel has not only been immersed in, but also has always respected the medical profession. In the same way that physicians saved her life countless times, she plans to attend medical school and focus on the care of pediatric and neonatal patients.
I am a 25-year-old resident physician of anesthesiology /
My sister and I are bonded by genetics, anatomy and biology /
I am a senior in high school at age 18. / My sister and I are bonded by love and everything in between.
A collection of poems entitled “Meditations on Medicine.”
When the COVID-19 alarms were raised, I got ready for battle against the virus the world was fighting, only to later feel cut off from “the cause” as my efforts to volunteer outside of my daily work were denied time and again. Some might call it luck, but for me, it felt isolating.
A collection of poems entitled “Meditations on Family.”
A collection of poems entitled “Meditations on God.”
At first, my heart pauses: frozen from shock. / But, within a few seconds, I start to take stock.
I recall my father sitting on a small stool in the kitchen / dialing friends and family, one by one, rippling outward
my patient does not have insurance / he asks me to address his concerns
Illness lies hidden in our ways / Influenced by the unconscious gaze.
“One” / It read. / Unassuming in black and white
Scared and frightened, we came in as interns / We had the knowledge, but we needed direction
I seize. / With emotion, not motor.
Resident Physician Contributing Writer
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Originally from the Midwest (think cornfields and windy city), I currently reside in Baltimore (where it’s mostly oysters, Old Bay, and rain) and where I am a third year resident in Neurology at Johns Hopkins. I was a liberal studies major in college at Purdue, where my interests took me from philosophy to physics, and ancient civilizations to the arts. Now as I approach the end of my penultimate year in residency, I often reflect on the long journey that has brought me to where I am, much of which comes from experiences and patients that have influenced me. My interests include travel, hiking, the French language, landscape painting, gardening, and dabbling in the culinary arts, both with cooking and trying new restaurants and eclectic cuisines. I look forward to my final year of training and am excited to be moving out west for my upcoming fellowship in Headache Medicine at the University of Colorado.
