How do you define meaning? I don't know what “logotherapy” means but I can get behind what Frankl has to say.
COVID takes more than lives; it takes away social interaction, it takes away human contact… it also takes away meaning. I know this might sound depressing, but in many...
As I'm writing this piece I'm looking out across Lake Michigan from our “fish-bowl,” a room we named in our new house. It’s snowing right now which is weird… it was sunny 5 minutes ago. My dad is sitting next to me and my dog, Remi, is at our...
Before the chaos – the constant instability that would come to define much of my life – I had a childhood that many dream of. I was a white male, born into a middle-class family, in a predominantly white, suburban town. While my family tree was a bit complicated, the first few years of my life were comfortable, stable, and supportive.
Where is the resilience to advocate for humanity in the face of pathology in medical culture? This piece explores the ease of seeing patients as people rather than their disease at the beginning of clerkship year in comparison with the end of the year, when the heftiness of medical knowledge and its culture obscures the person who has the disease.
Humans are intriguing. They are brought into a world of unknowns, yet are capable of learning what seems to be an endless amount. People say, “you get wiser as you grow older” through life lessons and experiences, but no one speaks about the inevitable challenges we face. It is...
There I was, in front of a matte black grand piano, palms sweating, eyes darting sheepishly about the mass of spectators. From the crowd, my father gave me a look of encouragement, and, in a fleeting boost of confidence, I began to play.
Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major, Opus...
In 2000, my parents folded their Beijing apartment into neat little piles, tucked their lives into three striped suitcases, hugged closely what couldn't be taken, then flew to America. Too wise for dreams of a white-picket fence, they dreamed instead of “better.” They dreamed of America.
In 1966, my parents...
She sat at the table’s head with eyes downcast and black brows furrowed. Her thin body wilted over her knees, her shins creating a shield to protect her vital organs. The corners of her lips sagged unnaturally – as if weights had hung from each end for many months,...
We have the opportunity to make Perelman a more just, equitable institution by discontinuing the AΩA Honor Society at the medical student level. Let me explain.
On a recent survey from Penn’s Medical Student Government, I was asked to respond to the question, “I believe that AΩA should exist at...
As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent in our lives as medical students, residents, and attendings, it is up to us to be open-minded about their potential but wary of the possible detriments to patient care, especially for minority populations.
This summer marked the inaugural release of the Planetary Health Report Card project at thirteen leading medical schools across the country, including the Perelman School of Medicine. The project aims to galvanize action from the med ed community around the key connections between patients’ health and current environmental crises. Perelman's results highlighted both strengths & opportunities for growth – at this critical juncture, medical schools must invest in planetary health and environmental justice to best safeguard the wellbeing of future patients.
Holistic admissions should be a bare-minimum responsibility of medical institutions to avoid perpetuating systemic racism and to make tangible progress towards improving diversity in medicine.
After staffing a COVID-19 medical shelter in Boston, we reflect on lessons learned about resource allocation in healthcare and services for people experiencing homelessness.
Now that I’ve shown you some of the disturbingly mundane, easily forgotten, embarrassingly unfiltered, suspiciously fragmented, difficult-to-summarize minutiae of my first year at Penn Med, I’m tempted to add my editorial thoughts to the above — but I won’t. What is far more important is your interpretation of the excerpts as you live out your own MS1 year.
You all will have exposure to incredible faculty at Perelman and in the Penn Medicine system as a whole. They will be there to offer world-class mentorship. The sheer diversity of interests and responsibilities will hopefully give you some insight into what you want to pursue in the future. However, emulating these individuals from afar can only accomplish so much. It is only when we take a genuine, in-depth interest in the mindset, systems, and values of our mentors that we can hope to emulate them in the future.
The banning of tear gas in international warfare as an acknowledgment of its dangerous nature is a farce: most warfare occurs domestically, between civilians and the government forces who once swore to protect and defend those civilians.
I am neither Black nor white. I feel awkward and almost out of place commenting on a history in which my relatives did not participate. In my household, I can trace the trauma of the Cultural Revolution on the opposite side of the world more than I can the...
As the pandemic shatters community support systems, Philadelphia’s marginalized children are more vulnerable than ever before. What new challenges will they face when we begin the return to “normal” life?
This essay is a perspective piece about my experience in medical school as a Black student. Originally an assignment for class, it became my way of processing the genocide and racism of Black people in the United States. It is a call to action for medical schools, students, and doctors to take a stance against anti-Black racism. As Audre Lorde said, “Your silence will not protect you.”
The road to gender equality has been decades in the making. Though progress has been gradual: with women currently comprising ~36% of the physician workforce and ~50% of medical school enrollees, irrefutable challenges still remain. Several physician leaders at Penn Med reflect on their experiences as women in medicine.
No medical or public health decision is socially neutral. Every drug, surgery, and behavioral therapy that we provide is as much a medical intervention as a social, economic, and political one.
The offseason in coastal Rhode Island is usually quiet. The breeze whipping off the Atlantic that draws the city folk during the oppressive heat of summer is exactly what keeps them away during the winter months. The ubiquitous clam shacks, surf shops, and ice cream parlors shutter their doors....
When Trump banned travel from Europe to the US, many Americans abroad were awoken in the middle of the night by concerned messages and calls. Instead, I was alerted by practical joke. My partner, who had woken up first and read the news, came in and sat on the...