My Interventional Radiology Shadowing Experience

Samira Shorey, MD Class of 2026

“Honestly, it’s just a fun little blog post! I like keeping track of my experiences, perspective on medicine and specialties on my blog. I wanted to share it with others.”

This Monday, I jumped out of bed with unbridled excitement. I turned on some funky music and started getting ready to shadow an interventional radiologist.

Why was I so excited? Well, I had it in my mind that IR was the perfect specialty for me. It’s radiology + hands on procedures – two things I loved. You could not go wrong with that, I thought.

A Little Death

Lindsey Glass, M.A. Speech Pathology, Class of 2024

I remember it clearly; the realization of what death was. Every living being dies. That meant the most important person in my life, my mom. I was around the age of four and realized my mom would die someday. The absolute disbelief and devastation. I threw myself on the kitchen floor, completely inconsolable. My mom comforted me. I do not remember what lead me to this realization, perhaps our pet hamster had recently passed. But my mom? She would die someday. This could not be. I refused to accept this fact. Eventually, after much of her kind and soothing words, she comforted me, and I moved on. This was part of life and I had to accept it. Now at the age of 32, honestly, I do not think I really accepted it, especially my mom dying someday.

The Way We Remember

Cecile Hermanns, M1, MD Class of 2026

I met RM in September of last year. We were paired together as part of a yearlong program where medical students meet with dementia patients and learn from their experience. We ended up meeting in her kitchen on Saturday mornings, sitting at the kitchen table and drinking coffee.

RM has early-stage dementia. She was able to tell me about her life and remember details about mine. I received some phone calls about our plans – what cookies had we decided to bake? When was I out of town? – but overall, our conversations were like any others. Except I was surprised by the depth of familiarity we reached with one another in such a short time, the way she felt comfortable sharing anything and everything with me. As a medical student I could tell that I was perceived as someone confidential, a person to confide in and trust. 

Community: then, now, and there

Emily Casteen, MD Class of 2026

As a Narrative Editor of Med Intima, I have the privilege of sharing the experiences and stories of members of the KUMC community. I’m so grateful for my classmates in Group 23 who sat down with me to reflect on their own journeys finding community during M1 year. Their vulnerability and courage are an inspiration to me! Above all, this piece seeks to remind us that we are not alone. 

Dr. QeeQee Gao, MD

Everyone has a story, and each story is unique, intimate, and powerful. Our Narrative series invites you to step inside someone else’s life by reading their story, as told in their own words. Readers, please come open-minded and ready to engage in one of the many stories that makes our community complete. The following is the narrative of Dr. QeeQee Gao, MD, founder of Med Intima, KUSOM alumna, and first-year psychiatry resident at UPenn.

2022 Gold Humanism Honor Society Solidarity Week: Reflections

Each year, the national Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) celebrates and commemorates compassionate patient care during the GHHS Solidarity Week. This year the KU GHHS chapter asked its faculty, resident, and student members to reflect on what it means to be a physician –particularly what it means to be a compassionate, humanistic physician. We hope you can join us this week in celebration and reflection of your personal and professional journey, and how to continually strive for compassionate, kind, and gentle human-centered care.

To learn more about the GHHS Solidarity Week, visit their website.

When both parties can see each other in the light of mutual understanding, healing may begin.  

Kate Rampon, MD

Dr. Carla Keirns, MD, PhD

Everyone has a story, and each story is unique, intimate, and powerful. Our Narrative series invites you to step inside someone else’s life by reading their story, as told in their own words. Readers, please come open-minded and ready to engage in one of the many stories that makes our community complete. The following is the narrative of Dr. Carla Keirns, MD, PhD, a Professor of History and Philosophy of Medicine at KUMC.

Karam Hamada, Class of 2024

 

The KU School of Medicine Class of 2024 started medical school virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic. They were the only class for whom the white coat ceremony was held virtually. Most students got to know each other through the class GroupMe chat, and other than that, there were not too many chances to get to know people outside of small groups. One way through which students connected with each other was student interest groups led by several students in the class. One of these groups is the KUMC Student Community Providers, which organizes student volunteers to help with actionable ongoing needs in Wyandotte County. The group is currently managed by several students in Class of 2024, but it was initiated through the efforts of Sophia Leonard and Karam Hamada. This is a conversation between Karam Hamada, a second-year medical student at KUMC, and Kimia Memar, one of our Med Intima Narrative editors from the same class. 

• How do you describe yourself?

I consider myself to be different if that makes sense. I have a fascination with not fitting in, and I have an issue with doing the same thing repetitively for long periods of time. So that’s why I always need to be doing different kinds of experiences all the time and meet different people.

• From personal experience, I know not fitting in the mainstream is not easy. However, I see how you are embracing that and letting it liberate you.

I think part of it could be that I bounced around many different schools growing up. I went to 8 different schools, and every one of them was so different with regards to its identify, with students ranging from very low to very high socioeconomic statuses. Having to switch and adapt my identify to each of them was really taxing on me. So in college, I decided to be myself because I would never be able to fully fit in. I want to help my family and everyone around me, but I also want to uplift them to feel comfortable in doing what they want to do. I’m really big into service and that is not just community service: it is giving back and inspiring others to give back.

Learning to Serve Others

Amber Smith, M2, Class of 2023 

Throughout this election cycle, our televisions, websites and social media are dominated by one issue: the future of healthcare. Millions of Americans do not have health insurance, which can prevent them from accessing the basic resources necessary for maintaining their health. To bridge this gap, the JayDoc Clinic at KUMC helps provide essential care, such as medications, diabetes treatment, eye exams, general health and community outreach for no cost to patients.

Amber Smith, a second-year medical student at KUMC, is an Executive Director for the JayDoc clinic. She plays an important role in the daily logistics, serves as a liaison between the students and patients, and helps plan the vision for the clinic. Smith’s inspiration for attending KUMC and joining JayDoc came from seeing healthcare inequity amongst her family and wanting to make sure others wouldn’t have the same experience.

Women in Medicine Week

The KUMC Association of Women Surgeons, OB-GYN, and American Medical Women’s Association student interest groups hosted the first annual Women in Medicine Week from September 28th, 2020 – October 2nd, 2020. Programming featured women speakers from across all areas of medicine, and included a donation drive for Rose Brooks Center, a domestic violence shelter and resource here in Kansas City. Below is a feature from many of the speakers from the week that included discussions on Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Racial Disparities in OB/GYN, Women in Research, and more. All events were recorded and are available to watch at http://www.kumc.edu/women-in-medicine-week.