We Had a Choice
My husband and I were pregnant with a child / Then we found out something wild. / I am a carrier of SMA / And this affects me in almost no way.
Tag: prose
Resident Physician Contributing Author
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Holly Ingram is currently a pediatric resident at Wake Forest SOM in Winston-Salem, North 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. In her free time, Holly enjoys playing soccer, visiting waterfalls, and spending time with her daughter and husband.
Dancing in the Rain
why do we live? do we struggle in vain / for the dream of a world, of a life without pain? / we suffer in spades, without cause, without gain
Levity
At the turn of every corner / I will be found out / You will see / The fraud in me
The Newborn Perspective
Don’t you forget the first day of life, / You had turned upside down / And a tight slap upon your backside / Even to get you to breathe!
Life // Death
A flicker on the screen of the heartbeat, the first glimpse of my baby, I cry at the possibility of new life // An empty ultrasound, no heartbeat, a young mom cries; discovery of death amidst life.
Stargazer
Graduation gown: shiny, matching cap / She looks up / With aspirations
For the Love of Medicine
I spent years of my life preparing for you / before I even knew the ways you would make my soul come alive, / How much you would spark my curiosity and give me purpose
Housestaff, This House is Not Your Home: A Satire
University Hospital was erected some years after Man’s Greatest Hospital — with the vision of its leadership — to satisfy the needs of many. Namely, the financial supporters, trustees and patients of course. The hospital’s motto was to “Make hospitals great again.”
Vibrant
Older people aren’t sweet, precious or cute, / They’re wisest among us, without dispute. / A habit of ours is to condescend / When talking to people near life’s end.
Meditations on Medicine
A collection of poems entitled “Meditations on Medicine.”
The Applause
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.
Where I’m Meant To Be
As I enter rooms filled with aerosolized forms of the coronavirus, realizing that I am at high risk of catching this highly contagious disease, I set aside my fears to hold the hands of patients — strangers and friends, all alike. I love what I do.
Resident Physician Contributing Writer
New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Montreh Tavakkoli is a resident in internal medicine at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell. She obtained her master's degree in Biotechnology from Columbia University and her medical degree from UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Her background is in cancer research, having contributed to the development of a leukemic stem cell directed therapy in acute myeloid leukemia as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellow at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is starting her fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Pennsylvania in July.