Where’s Your Other Shoe?
I am no stranger to the scene playing out before me. This time is different though. No longer am I the silent scribe in the corner, fingers deftly tapping keys as I prepare the chart. Instead, I stand...
Read More
Section
Arts & Culture
Things No One Told Me
As I reflect on the last four years of medical school, I only know one thing for certain: there are many things I do not know. It feels pompous for me to claim that I know things, because...
Read More
The Angels Over Phoenix Children’s Hospital
The angels were nowhere to be found that evening—abandoning their posts in the forests and galaxies, trusting the stars to stay in place for a singular night of celebration. If you looked up and scanned the skies in...
Read More
Rites of Passage in Medical Education
As the seasons change and the colors of leaves with it – as much as seasons and leaves can change in Phoenix – the time of great stress descends upon a particular group of students here at the...
Read More
Evidence Based Gaps: Art in the Healthcare Setting
If you’ve spent much time in hospitals, you know that no two are the same. Architecture differs, food varies, and good luck trying to find your way around. However, you can always count on one thing to be...
Read More
Emotional Labor: The Unspoken Curriculum of Clinical rotations
Throughout my clinical rotations, I’ve often found myself deeply, deeply exhausted by the end of the day. Some days that’s not a surprise, such as when I’ve been on my feet since 5 AM on surgery, or have...
Read More
Hi, I’m the Med Student
When I approach the door of an exam room, I am always bracing myself. Always preparing myself – my heart, brain, and mouth – because somehow, my inclination is always to start the encounter with, “hi, I’m the...
Read More
Landslide
Tucked away in a shadowed corner between the truncated stairs to the church stage and the endless rows of stacked chairs, a man sits crouched, holding a child between his legs as if she is one of the...
Read More
The Fortune Teller
This article is dedicated to all those sea-faring refugees who are lost, lost, lost, in the search for something so intangible such as belonging. Some people awake to the sound of birds chirping or a city awakening, but...
Read More
Submit for Solidarity Week 2022
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Hello Differential Readers, This year, we are publishing a special edition of the Differential in honor of Solidarity Week 2022 (Feb 14-18th). We are encouraging students, faculty, staff, and the local medical community...
Read More
TikTok: The Art Museum of our Time
I know what you’re thinking. It’s my first article for The Differential and I chose to talk about TikTok AND expose the inordinate amount of time I spend on it instead of studying for an anatomy block I...
Read More
Medical Students Make Time for Music
Before we begin our training, every medical student is warned that this process takes sacrifice — and that some of the things that bring us joy will inevitably fall by the wayside. There’s less time for travel, less...
Read More
Confronting November, one song at a time
It’s November, and a decent chunk of my time is spent thinking of synonyms for stress. It’s still (still!) 95 degrees outside in Phoenix. There’s a pandemic, an election, and Doctoring on Tuesday. But we’re all here, chipping...
Read More
Movember: The Unique Story Behind A Great Cause
Before you read any further, I must fully disclose that I cannot really grow a mustache, let alone a beard. Last fall, given the timing with Movember (also known as No-Shave November) and the week of third-year Intersessions,...
Read More
Cafecitos en la Casa
I am here today with Dr. Sue Kim, leader of the PAL block director curriculum committee. (Personal Active Learning is a 6-week block of self-directed learning between the first and second year of medical school at UACOM -...
Read More
Thoughts on Art and Anxiety in the Time of COVID-19
There was a time—though it feels a lifetime ago—when I thought creative pursuits would be my path. In fact, some readers of The Differential may know that my undergraduate degree is in English and I have double minors...
Read More
On the Push for Bilingual Education in Medicine
Estefania Lopez, a UACOM – Phoenix student in the class of 2023, is passionate about increasing resources for medical Spanish on campus and throughout the curriculum. Along with fellow classmates Alexandria Daggett and Abigail Solorio, she developed “Almuerzo...
Read More
Exploring the Science of Compassion at UACOM-PHX
I fear that because of time constraints, stress, or burnout, I will not become the caliber of physician that I set out to be. Today, I am a bright-eyed MS1, eager to serve others, yet it is impossible...
Read More
Little Memories
A year ago, the klaxon call of the morning alarm signaled the beginning of a day of study for Step 1. Long hours nuzzled with a book and a near limitless supply of tea flowed into each other....
Read More
The Magic of Childbirth
It’s not the gentle flight of a stork through the glimmering sunshine of new day. It’s new life knit from blood and sinew in the darkness of a womb, a potentially dangerous craft of rearranged organs that can...
Read More
The American Academy of Family Physicians Podcast: Interview Edition
Today I am interviewing Steven Brown, MD, Family Medicine Physician and creator of the American Family Physician Family Medicine Podcast, which has been in biweekly production since July 1st, 2015. Tell us about your roles with Banner University...
Read More
An Interview with “Poets and Muses” Creator: Imogen Arate
Culture and medicine can serve as reflections of each other. As societal changes affect conceptions of health and illness, it is important to explore the expression of health and medicine. In this interview, I speak with Imogen Arate,...
Read More
Student Art Displayed at Donor Ceremony of Appreciation
Those involved in the Clinical Anatomy course taught last fall: first-year medical students from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix; physical therapy and occupational therapy students from Northern Arizona University; and faculty and staff who...
Read More
When Physicians Forget to Take Care of Themselves
Note from the Editors-in-Chief: September is National Suicide Awareness Month. As such, this article addresses physician suicide, an issue which already has or will likely affect all physicians. If you or a friend is struggling and considering self-harm...
Read More
There is Another Ebola Outbreak Happening in the DRC and We Need to Talk About It
On August 1, 2018, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared a new Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, located in the northeast region of the country [1]. By September 7, a total of...
Read More
Exportation of Cuban Doctors: Revolutionary Physicians
“The life of a single human being is worth a million time more than all the property of the richest man on earth.” Quote by Ernesto “Ché” Guevara above the entrance to the Calixto Garcia Hospital. On August...
Read More
The Medical Persona: An Interview with a Mask-Maker
Recently, the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix hosted an Art in Medicine event focusing on ceramics and the creation of masks. This event, led by Dr. Cynthia Standley and Lisa Swanson, the director of ArtMobile, allowed students...
Read More
Hello
Medical students participate in a Gross Anatomy Laboratory as part of their first-year training towards becoming future physicians. Many view this as a “rite of passage,” as these willed-body donors are often our first and most intimate patients....
Read More
An Interview with Monica Martinez
This interview is re-created from the conversation I had with Monica Martinez, the artist responsible for the Nothing in Stasis exhibit that is currently in the lobby of the HSEB. An interview from earlier in her career can...
Read More
55-Word Reflection on a Patient Experience
Internal Medicine Patient: Veteran, father, grandfather COPD, heart failure, new diagnosis of terminal cancer Denial, anger, depression Weeks in the hospital My last day comes “It’s been my pleasure,” I say “Thank you for seeing me every day,”...
Read More
My Month at the Medical Examiner’s
As part of my fourth year, I chose to do an elective in forensic pathology at the medical examiner’s office. Many people, including my peers, wondered why a bubbly, optimistic future obstetrician-gynecologist would choose to see death on...
Read More
Interview With Family Medicine Physician & Author Dr. Sandra Miller
After hearing about Dr. Miller and reading reviews on Amazon about her first book, Only Rock is Real, I couldn’t wait to interview her! My hope is that this interview provides insight into how medicine impacts many aspects...
Read More
The White Coat
It’s July again in Phoenix. For most, this just signals our yearly retreat into the great indoors as the 110 °F weather scorches the earth and melts our tires to the asphalt. For the UA College of Medicine...
Read More
A Reflection on Rural Medicine
In the early morning of August 23, 2016, I eagerly packed my belongings in my car and headed 225 miles west: it was time to begin my journey to Silver City, New Mexico for my rural family medicine...
Read More
Substance-Induced Psychosis or Reality: The Perfect Addiction
Countertransference, in one word summarizes my last six weeks spent within the walls of various psychiatric units. Every petition, every police report, every psychiatric emergency center report, I experienced some form of countertransference. Life experiences, which make us,...
Read More
Native American History: A Tale of Medicine
Last November came and went, and unbeknownst for many people, so did Native American Heritage Month. Although Native American Day had been unofficially celebrated since 1916, it wasn’t until 1990 that President George H.W. Bush passed a resolution...
Read More
Bahá’í and Medicine
As medical students, we are taught during Doctoring to obtain a detailed history from a patient in an appropriate amount of time. Alongside the medical history questions, we inquire about occupation, highest degree, diet, and spiritual beliefs that...
Read More
Didactic Blocks Expressed as Poetry: Clinical Anatomy
For each issue of The Differential, our arts editor will write a piece in a specific poetic form that reflects the themes, material, pathologies, and/or student maturity/mindset during the block that she experienced the previous year. All of...
Read More
Medicine in Art History
Likely, all of us in middle school or high school had to take an art class—a drama class, band, or art class maybe. Believe it or not, I thought I was awful at all of those; my doodling...
Read More
Writing Workshop III: The End of the World
For the third installment of the Writing Workshop series, I am using the same prompt that was featured previously in Sara Pousti’s piece, “How Resilience Found Beauty”: More than anything, I wanted to tell the world… I’ve always...
Read More
Writing Workshop II: How Resilience Found Beauty
As one of the students on the Global Health Certificate of Distinction track, I had the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic for the medical trip this past summer. I knew going in that it would be...
Read More
For the Good of Health: The Importance of Art in Medicine
“The arts enrich our lives, feed our souls, and provide a refuge from the struggles of daily life – and learning.” James Burns, director of The University of Arizona Museum of Art and Archive of Visual Arts When...
Read More
Didactic Blocks Expressed as Poetry: MBLD
For each issue of The Differential, our Arts Editor will write a piece in a specific poetic form that reflects the themes, material, pathologies, and/or student maturity/mindset during the block that she experienced the previous year. All of...
Read More
Endurance
It’s 0300 and your AC/DC ‘Thunderstruck’ alarm sounds. Wide-eyed, you feel a shudder of panic as your adrenals dump everything they’ve got into your bloodstream. It’s the first day of your surgical rotation. Thunderstruck is right. You question...
Read More
A Complicated Clinical Course
I remember the three months between finishing college and starting medical school, feeling the combination of nervousness and excitement as I tried to imagine what medical school would be like. Three years later, I look back at that...
Read More
Dear Class of 2020
Dear class of 2020, We are all so excited to see you on campus, proudly donning your freshly minted white coats with radiating smiles. In order to welcome you to campus, the class of 2019 decided to put...
Read More
Sonnet for the Graduating Class
See! Adorned in hues of recognition, Orbs glistening and flashing dental whites — A younger self: another tradition — Now steps fulfilled, proven strong wills and mights. Success celebrated in academe, The moment flourishes for journey’s end. With...
Read More
Clown Town Healing Fest
The first Clown Town Healing Fest in the United States was held at the downtown Phoenix Arizona Center on Saturday, February 26. The planning for this day of love, laughter, and healing was led by Dr. Carl Hammerschlag...
Read More
Shakespeare’s Legacy and Impact on Medicine
Think back to the last time you read Romeo and Juliet. It was probably in high school English class, and you were assigned to write an essay on the play’s themes of love, tragedy, or rivalry and also...
Read More
A Review of the NPR Ted Radio Hour
We hope that you enjoy this summary of the six short NPR segments that were compiled to form the TED Radio Hour entitled “Just a Little Nicer.” This hour of TED Talks reviews ideas about compassion and empathy....
Read More
How to: Unconditional Empathy
It’s another busy day at the clinic. You look up the patient list for the afternoon and start skimming through. As you sift through chief complaints, past medical histories, and social histories, you start to paint pictures of...
Read More
A Peek in the Week of a Medical Student is Bleak
Another week is set to begin, another test to study for, I mean. Lectures stacked back-to-back every day. I say hip-hip, I think, hooray. Anki decks galore, please, can’t handle it no more. Mondays are kept light, lecture,...
Read More
Starting from Within
SUPPORTING OUR PATIENTS BY SUPPORTING EACH OTHER Since my Scholarly Project involves transgender health, I routinely peruse some of the new research that comes out involving health disparities in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community....
Read More
Shattering the Myth of the Model Minority
No, but where are you REALLY from? Unlike some of their friends who sent their children to visit relatives almost every summer, my parents did not bring my sister and me to China until after my high school...
Read More
How I Learned to Stop Eye Rolling
& START LOVING FAMILY MEDICINE “Country Doctor” – One of my favorite photos. By W. Eugene Smith—Time & Life Pictures (TIME Magazine), 1948. Growing up, my dad was always pushing me to challenge the status quo. He begged...
Read More
The Highs and Lows of Medicine
Seeing the beginning of a new life is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Having to tell a mother that the new life she had been expecting is suddenly gone is the most gut-wrenching experience. I...
Read More
Yá’át’ééh Shimá
“No ifs, ands, or buts” is a common phrase used to assess the cognitive function of elderly patients who present with signs of dementia—but how does one assess a Navajo elder who speaks only a language in which...
Read More
One Month Rural
A visit to the doctor often results in a prescription sent off to your pharmacy—conceivably for antibiotics, analgesics or antidepressants. If you’re feeling quite sick, you drive directly from the office to the local Walgreens, and within 30...
Read More
Summer Scrubs 2015
I decided to help out with the Summer Scrubs program this year not just because the organizers asked for more volunteers and I had spare time but also because I was eager to get started on campus and...
Read More