Aspiring Docs Diaries

All Stories

Dec 3, 2018

Making Medicine Human

Jordan Nichols

Author’s Note: No real patient identifying characteristics were included in this narrative. A 68-year-old homeless woman presented to the emergency […] Read More

Nov 26, 2018

Dealing with Patient Death

Aisa Iyawe

I lost my first patient. I was only a second-year medical student at Keck School of Medicine and this was my first time shadowing at a Level One Trauma Center. Read More

Nov 12, 2018

On Doing Battle

Elorm Avakame

Author’s Note:  No patient names or identifying characteristics were included in this story. My life as a fourth-year medical student […] Read More

Nov 7, 2018

How To Survive Med School with a Chronic Illness and/or Disability

Emily Hayward

First and perhaps most importantly, if you are a medical student who has an illness or a disability: please know […] Read More

Oct 29, 2018

A Resident’s Grief

Elorm Avakame

In his last post, Elorm shared his first experience of confronting his emotions as a physician-in-training. In this post, Elorm […] Read More

Oct 24, 2018

Everybody Sucks at the Beginning

Pavan Mehat

In September, during my first three weeks of surgical rotation, I had a challenging time which was ultimately a growth […] Read More

Oct 16, 2018

On Death and Crying

Elorm Avakame

Author’s Note:  No patient names or identifying characteristics were included in this story. Mavis was unconscious the first time I […] Read More

Oct 9, 2018

A Lesson in How to Show Compassion

Emily Hayward

During our pre-clinical years at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), we are divided into small groups of six […] Read More

Oct 1, 2018

Why Medicine Needs You

Eric Johnson

Stories of pre-medical students knowing they want to be a doctor from a young age has never resonated with me. […] Read More

Sep 24, 2018

Trauma Bay One

Jordan Nichols

It was a warm and sunny late spring day. A comfortable 73 degrees, the birds were chirping their harmonious chorus […] Read More