At the start of this pandemic, with the stay-at-home orders, I had a week of vacation that I needed to use. I was supposed to be traveling with my husband to my ancestral homes in India (and to be eating all of the street food my stomach could handle), but I was forced to spend theContinue reading “Writing Prompt: Masks”
Tag Archives: writing
Writing Prompt: The Voice
I have sat down to write a blog post multiple times in the past few months. But every time that I did, I felt paralyzed by the fact that I didn’t have anything important enough to say in this time of crisis. I felt that no one would want to listen to me or that my messageContinue reading “Writing Prompt: The Voice”
Writing Prompt: Grief
Death is a terrible thing. Yes, it eventually comes for us all, but even when expected, it is still hits us like a freight train careening off the tracks. And when the Reaper finally arrives and carries one of our brethren off into the sunset, no matter what else we feel, we are also overcome with grief. AContinue reading “Writing Prompt: Grief”
Writing Prompt: Silent Prayers
I have had a rough week. Coming back from vacation is always hard, and as I did, I wished my husband goodbye for a six-week stretch. And don’t we all do this thing over the holiday season? We either work too much over our time off, or if we do truly rest, we come back overwhelmed with allContinue reading “Writing Prompt: Silent Prayers”
The Literature: How Reading Fiction Builds Empathy
Much of medical training is spent reading literature. This is mostly in the form of textbooks, primary research articles, or summaries of the most recent literature (UpToDate, etc.). We sit in seminars and absorb facts and spend our free time catching up on the stack of journals we get in the mail (my flights to see myContinue reading “The Literature: How Reading Fiction Builds Empathy”
The Literature: What Is Narrative Medicine?
When starting this blog, I was asked by many people, “but what exactly is narrative medicine?” I thought that after a month devoted to the concept in medical school, I should be able to answer that question; however all I could ever muster up were some vague musings on telling our stories to help us connectContinue reading “The Literature: What Is Narrative Medicine?”
Writing Prompt: The Best Possible Day
Atul Gawande is one of my favorite medical writers. His oeuvre is a great place to begin when you are interested in exploring narrative medicine because it is thoughtful and thought-provoking, but still very accessible to the modern reader. He is the author of several books, including Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, from whichContinue reading “Writing Prompt: The Best Possible Day”
The Literature: A Brief History of Physician-Authors
A phrase I have heard uttered by many medical trainees (including myself) is “I don’t have time to write.” Many of us have histories as amateur essayists and poets with a thirst for literature that we have since abandoned since starting our medical education. The time and emotional demands in medicine seem to preclude us fromContinue reading “The Literature: A Brief History of Physician-Authors”
Why Narrative Medicine?
Medical training is HARD. Let us count some of the ways in which it can be difficult: We work long hours We are exposed to an onslaught of information that we are supposed to retain We are constantly being pulled in a million different directions We have to somehow build rapport with a patient andContinue reading “Why Narrative Medicine?”
Writing for Wellness 