Jonathan Temte, MD, PhD School of Medicine and Public Health 2023 Essay We arrived in Madison the same fall; both relocating from the Pacific Northwest. It was 1983. I was moving out of a marine mammal graduate program at Oregon State University to attend Medical School at the University of Wisconsin; she was on…
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Exposed: A germaphobe in quarantine
A.C. Mapes School of Medicine and Public Health 2022 Essay During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people called themselves “germaphobes.” It was rational to avoid getting COVID, but that is not germaphobia. Germaphobia is an irrational fear of getting sick. Germaphobes have panic attacks when they are triggered and rely on avoidance behaviors that…
Doctor Prizes
Siobhan Wilson, MD, PhD School of Medicine and Public Health 2022 Essay Talking to each other in the back room about our clinic days, we call them “Doctor Prizes.” They are the gifts our patients bring us to say, “Thank you.” To say, “I feel seen, and heard, and cared for.” To say, “I…
One Day
Michelle Kimple, PhD School of Medicine and Public Health 2021 Narrative essay There’s something pernicious about bipolar depression. I think it’s because you know what it feels like to be the complete opposite: to be high on life. When you were manic, everything in your life had meaning. You connected your own dots, and…
21 weeks, 3 days
Rebekah Carrizales School of Medicine and Public Health 2020 Essay, personal narrative Tuesday, September 8th. A “routine” structural ultrasound. “Squirt” said the ultrasound gel as it turbulently ejected from the packet onto my belly. It was warm; an unexpected comfort. The ultrasound technician rolled her probe from side to side as my husband, E,…
Time
Kristen Kehl-Floberg, BFA, MSOT, OTR/L School of Medicine and Public Health, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute 2019 Essay with case study “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” -J.R.R. Tolkien A person’s use of time is a code for meaning and ability. It isn’t the…
Dying or Flying?
Kenneth R Taylor, MD School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences 2020 Essay There are people in my life who think I’m crazy for doing what I’m doing. And they’re probably right. Let’s face it: I’ve now reached my 10th year of medical training and my title is “First…