Two medical students have essays published in JAMA

Two Vanderbilt University School of Medicine students recently had essays published in JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association in that publication's regular "A Piece of My Mind" feature.

"She Smiled as She Walked Away" was written by Kathleen Gallagher and was published in the Jan. 9 issue. Opening paragraph:

"The muscles of my back unclenched one by one as I sank down into my chair. It was barely lunchtime and already the day felt as though it had exceeded its time in the hot Central Asian sun. Crunching footsteps outside signaled that my respite was to be short lived. My partner medic’s apologetic face poked around the corner — another patient required my attention."

"My Tenuous Relationship with an Octopus" was written by Jonathan Dallas and was published in the Nov. 21 issue. 

Opening paragraph:

"Ever since third grade, the octopus has been my least favorite animal. Not that any octopus ever did anything to me; on the contrary, I’ve only seen one in an aquarium, and I’m sure it took no special notice of me, nor I of it. In fact, given their keen intelligence, octopi should actually command some notion of respect within the animal kingdom. That said, my mind has chosen to overlook this fact and focus instead on the image of a pale, purple, cartoon octopus silently staring back at me from the ceiling of a postoperative recovery room."