2022 PHM Health Professions Creative Medical Writing and Art Contest

May 10, 2022

Information

Awards Ceremony

May 5, 2022

ID7811

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

00:00My name is Cindy McNamara.
00:02I am the interim director for the
00:05Program for Humanities and Medicine,
00:07standing in for the great Doctor,
00:09Anna Reisman, who is the usual director
00:12of the Program for Humanities in Medicine
00:15and is actually here with us this evening.
00:18Welcome to the 2022 Program
00:21for Humanities and Medicine,
00:23Health Professions, Student creative
00:25writing and visual arts contest.
00:28We are thrilled to have you here,
00:31and we are so proud.
00:33Of all of our presenters
00:34and winners this evening,
00:36this year we welcome submissions from
00:39all health profession students at Yale.
00:42We had students from health
00:44training programs,
00:44including the Yale Position
00:47associate program,
00:48the Yale Physician Assistant online program,
00:52the Yale School of Medicine,
00:54the Yale School of Public Health,
00:56the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences MD,
01:00PhD program,
01:00and the Yale School of Nursing.
01:03To include students in both the nursing
01:06and nurse practitioner programs.
01:07Prizes to winning students from
01:09the Yale School of Medicine came
01:11from the Marguerite Rush Lerner
01:12fund and prizes to winning students
01:14from other health professions.
01:16Schools were funded by the program
01:18for the Humanities in Medicine.
01:20This year categories represented
01:22in the contest included poetry,
01:24prose, and visual arts.
01:28We received 131 wonderful submissions,
01:31including 49 in the poetry category,
01:3521 in the pros category and 60
01:37in the visual arts category.
01:39There were so many beautiful outstanding
01:43pieces which made this year's
01:46contest particularly competitive.
01:48Tonight we're joined by our
01:50friend Karen Kolb,
01:52who really runs the program
01:53for Humanities in medicine,
01:55and I want to extend a thank you
01:58to Karen for all she's done.
02:01We're also joined by ASL interpreters,
02:05both Cheryl and Jai,
02:06and we thank them for all that
02:09they're doing for the program tonight.
02:12We're also joined by Sam,
02:13our technician who's helping us with.
02:15If we have any trouble.
02:19And our with our programming.
02:21So thank you for that.
02:23And now I'm going to share my
02:25screen to show you to thank you
02:27to to thank our judges.
02:39Our wonderful judges, which,
02:40with whom we would never have
02:42been able to have this contest,
02:44are seen on this slide and we thank
02:46them because they reviewed and re
02:49reviewed each piece to come up
02:51with our list of winning students.
02:56Which is here. This is our list
02:58of winning students for the 2022
02:59Program for Humanities and Medicine,
03:01Health Professions, Creative
03:02Medical writing and art contests,
03:04and we're very proud of all of you.
03:09Tonight we're going to follow a program
03:12that's listed here our each of our
03:15winners will speak or show their piece.
03:18And it will include about 20 pieces.
03:23The last three people aren't here,
03:25but I will be announcing their pieces.
03:27So without further ado I will begin.
03:32I'm going to announce our first.
03:34Presenter Anna Vignola is a Yale
03:37physician assistant online program
03:39student to graduate this year.
03:42In fact, I believe it's tomorrow
03:45she won first place in the poetry
03:48category with her poem as the Sun
03:52sets behind our fig tree. Anna.
03:58First of all, I just want
03:59to say what an honor it
04:01is to be part of this entire contest
04:03and this community of writers.
04:05So I just want to thank everyone who
04:07contributed in putting this together.
04:10It's it's, you know,
04:11my last time probably being able
04:13to do this as I graduate tomorrow.
04:15So thank you so much.
04:17It's been a pleasure to be
04:19part of this community.
04:20So my poem was written at a time when I
04:24was doing rotation with a geriatrician,
04:26and so we were seeing a lot of elderly
04:29patients coming in and many of whom
04:30were coming in with their spouses,
04:33who they had been with for 5060 years.
04:38And when I was observing them,
04:40it reminded me how much we express,
04:44whether consciously or not,
04:45through our behaviors,
04:46and actually what a small
04:48percentage of our emotions are
04:50expressed through actual words.
04:52And so this poem is kind of born
04:56out of that kind of moment of
04:58clarity that I had one evening
05:00when I was thinking about that.
05:04As the sun sets behind our fig tree.
05:08I am thankful for the two
05:10little bodies asleep beside me.
05:12And for the one on the couch to
05:14whom in a moment I will bring the
05:17last fig of the season to apologize
05:19for using up the hot water.
05:21And for sometimes leaving open the
05:23kitchen window so he'll think of
05:25me as he shuffles through sleep.
05:34Thank you.
05:38Thank you, Anna.
05:40That was absolutely beautiful.
05:42Perfect thank you.
05:45Our next presenter is Christina Ruiz.
05:49Christina is a Yale physician
05:51assistant online program
05:52student to graduate in 2023,
05:54Christina won third place
05:55in the tie in the poetry
05:58category of the contest with
06:00her poem entitled My Choice.
06:03Christina welcome.
06:06Hi, thank you for having me.
06:09This poem was written
06:11from personal experience.
06:14It's important to share this poem
06:17during these times as our reproductive
06:20rights are being challenged.
06:22It just so happened that this
06:26symposium was scheduled for this week,
06:29so I decided to take a break
06:32from rotations to share.
06:34My hope is to break the stigma
06:35of abortions by sharing a little
06:37bit of my story through a poem.
06:41My choice today.
06:42I wasn't a student, I was the patient,
06:46a patient with a choice.
06:48Handed a clipboard and told to
06:51wait lecture time is approaching
06:53and I might be late.
06:56A life continues to form inside me.
06:58Please call me.
06:59I hope it's not too late.
07:01My anxiousness becomes impatience.
07:03My stomach begins to ache.
07:06Will I regret this decision soon?
07:09A feeling I just can't shake.
07:12My training keeps me grounded.
07:14My hope for the future keeps me sane.
07:16Will I be able to have more children later?
07:20Someone please just Call My Name?
07:23Handed pills that I should know.
07:26I contemplate which way this all could go.
07:29My medical training tells me this is safe.
07:32I now sit with a decision I must make.
07:35Tears run down my face why
07:38must I choose my own fate?
07:40Proceed with a pregnancy filled with
07:42stress or terminate a pregnancy,
07:45a choice I might regret.
07:47As I leave the office in tears,
07:49I returned to life as a student
07:51who will graduate in a few years.
07:54I sit in my car reflecting on my body,
07:57my choice,
07:59feeling gratitude because I
08:00was able to utilize my voice.
08:03Today I wasn't a student,
08:05I was the patient,
08:07a patient with
08:08a choice. Thank you.
08:15Wow, that was really wonderful.
08:17Thank you so much for sharing that with us.
08:22Really appreciate that.
08:25Our next presenter is Isaiah Thomas.
08:28Isaiah is in the Yale School of
08:31Medicine to graduate in 2023.
08:34His entry was tied for first place
08:36in the prose category of the contest,
08:39and it's entitled the end of days.
08:41Thank you, Isaiah.
08:44Thank you. Hi, I'm Isaiah Thomas,
08:464th year medical student.
08:47I'm really honored and grateful for
08:49this opportunity to share my work.
08:50This piece was based on a patient I
08:52worked with on the adolescent psych
08:54unit during my third year and this
08:56experience has just been really
08:57important to me in terms of my interest
08:59in child analysis and psychiatry and
09:01just sort of how I approach mental
09:04health and medicine as a whole,
09:06and so I'll be reading an excerpt
09:08from my piece at the end of days.
09:10On her first day on the unit,
09:12she told us that her throat
09:13had closed up a few years ago.
09:14She couldn't eat for a month.
09:16Things could just happen to you.
09:18You couldn't trust anything,
09:19not even your own body.
09:21On this admission,
09:22her first time in a psychiatric unit,
09:24her grades were the lowest
09:25they had ever been.
09:26She didn't see the point in trying anymore.
09:28She didn't trust the school system anyways,
09:30or the government or society.
09:32Everyone just went about their
09:34lives never doing anything while the
09:36world burned around us as she spoke,
09:38I wrote down paranoia on my notepad.
09:40I paused and added a question mark after it.
09:44She was 15 years old with recent
09:46diagnosis of major depression
09:47and generalized anxiety disorder.
09:49Things have gotten bad in the
09:51past few months.
09:52Among other things,
09:53she worried about the environment about
09:54climate change and disasters of her own,
09:56making the idea that this could
09:58all be gone within her lifetime.
10:00She didn't know how to cope.
10:02She had been in therapy and
10:03started an antidepressant,
10:04but after a week she became activated.
10:07Everything became too real,
10:08too much reality to bear.
10:10That was why she came to the hospital.
10:12She feared she would walk in front
10:13of a car or fall down the stairs.
10:15It might just happen of its own accord.
10:17You are a hat on the first day and
10:19every day after that she told us that
10:21she started wearing it one day when
10:23she became depressed and just never stopped.
10:24Her speech was pressured and yet
10:27directed like someone in an emergency,
10:29but her tone carried us out.
10:30Anger, like someone already grieving.
10:34She said that she had always been a warrior.
10:36She used to worry about her health.
10:37Now she worried about existing.
10:39She worried that she was a narcissist,
10:41that she was making this up,
10:42but we're just on a rock in an infinitely
10:44expanding and uncaring universe.
10:46She said it would be easier and
10:47so much less painful to give in
10:49to be subsumed by the nothingness.
10:51The idea of nihilism came up that
10:53nothing inherently had meaning.
10:55I worried that discussing nihilism
10:56would make her a nihilist.
10:58But when I was trained to answer
10:59calls at a suicide hotline,
11:01we were taught that talking about
11:03suicide doesn't make people suicidal.
11:04But that was ten years ago.
11:06Maybe this was different,
11:07but I figured nihilism was on the table.
11:10She had already told me about the
11:12four noble truths of Buddhism,
11:13about the suffering inherent to existence,
11:15and the impermanence of all things.
11:17She said she wasn't religious,
11:19but she believed in an energy
11:20that connects all living things.
11:22She felt connected to the earth.
11:24The woods were one of her few happy places.
11:26Somewhere her mind could be quiet.
11:29She worried that she was too far gone over
11:32the precipice past the point of no return.
11:34Not worth the trouble anymore.
11:36I insisted that she was worth the trouble.
11:38She winced.
11:38She had no reason to believe me or care
11:41about what I had to say on the matter.
11:43I should have listened,
11:45not challenged at the hotline.
11:46They've told us that you're
11:47not there to give answers.
11:48You're there to assess risk,
11:50ask open-ended questions and
11:51validate their emotions.
11:53You don't know the things will get better,
11:54but you try to help a caller move
11:56towards the possibility that they might.
11:58I didn't know if I was supposed
11:59to give answers.
12:00Now as a provider and training,
12:02I later asked her about her
12:03plans for the future.
12:04She didn't have any at the moment.
12:06Maybe wander into the woods
12:07and live out her days.
12:09She knew that she didn't want
12:10to go to college.
12:11She wanted to learn about astrology and
12:13cosmology and the nature of existence.
12:15I asked her if she'd ever considered
12:17studying those things in college.
12:18She was quiet.
12:19She hadn't.
12:20No one had ever told her that
12:22that was an option.
12:24One day we told her we wanted to try
12:25a medication that we hoped would
12:27slow down her runaway thoughts.
12:29Choose willing to try it.
12:30We asked her if she had any questions.
12:32She asked us what to do about
12:34the crushing weight of existence.
12:35I turned to my supervising Dr.
12:37We both shrugged. You learn to manage it.
12:40Medication can help when it becomes too
12:42much and you learn to share the way.
12:44We asked if she had any other questions.
12:47She asked for information and information
12:49sheet about the medication and asked
12:50to not be told what its side effects were.
12:52She feared she would take them.
12:55On the first day after starting
12:56the medication, she said that she
12:58had no thoughts in her head.
12:59Her mind was empty.
13:00We suggested that maybe she was used
13:02to the roar of her racing thoughts.
13:04This new quiet maybe felt
13:06like the absence of thoughts.
13:08She said that it was possible.
13:09We decided to wait and see how tomorrow went.
13:12On the second day,
13:13she told us that her mind was calm and
13:15she had total clarity about what she must do.
13:17She had to die.
13:19It was the only logical answer.
13:21She said that she was nothing
13:22more than a carbon footprint.
13:23She could be a vegan,
13:24but she could never be vegan enough.
13:26She couldn't save the world,
13:27but she could certainly harm it.
13:29She didn't need to exist.
13:30She didn't want to exist.
13:32When I was at the hotline, we didn't
13:34get many explicitly existential callers.
13:36They didn't train us on.
13:37They didn't train us on how to
13:39navigate a conversation about
13:41humanities inevitable self-destruction.
13:43How could you live with herself
13:44knowing it was all pointless?
13:46I didn't have a good answer for her.
13:48I didn't have one for myself.
13:50So I was honest,
13:51I said we do our best and hope for
13:53the best that it's worth it to try,
13:55even if it means saving just one person,
13:58even if that person is yourself.
13:59That's how I looked with myself.
14:01She seemed doubtful.
14:02We decided to wait and see how tomorrow went.
14:05On the third day she woke up
14:07and no longer needed to die.
14:09She said that she had a revelation and
14:12decided she didn't want to keep existing
14:14like this halfway between life and death.
14:16She still felt bad.
14:17She was still depressed,
14:18but she wanted to live.
14:20She wasn't wearing her hat that day.
14:22She said this was her making
14:24steps towards getting better.
14:25There was work to be done.
14:27She wanted to open an animal shelter.
14:29Someday she would start by
14:30volunteering at the shelter in
14:32her town and she wanted to start
14:34a garden to help things grow.
14:36Thank you.
14:41Thank you Isaiah. That was awesome.
14:45It's amazing that the power of narrative
14:48medicine coming through again and
14:49again that was great. Thank you.
14:51Our next presenter is Simone Haselow.
14:54Simone is as Yale School of Medicine
14:57students to graduate in 2023.
14:59She won first place in the visual
15:03arts category of the contest with
15:06her piece entitled Collapse,
15:09Simon. Thank
15:11you, I'm gonna go ahead and share my screen
15:13now if I can.
15:19OK, can you all see that? OK,
15:24I guess just first a little bit about
15:26this work. As you can see, it's a comic,
15:28so I'm going to be reading it to you all.
15:32And this is a comic that is based also
15:36on my own experiences as a patient
15:38and my own experiences with anxiety
15:40and panic disorder
15:42in particular. OK,
15:44so this is collapse.
15:48When I was in my first year
15:49of architectural studies,
15:51I was one of
15:5310,486 students across the US working
15:55towards a master's degree in architecture.
15:59There are about 800 students at my school.
16:02All of us ambitious and none of us sleeping.
16:05When you go to bed last night
16:07I didn't. I was in studio until three and
16:09still had 100 pages of reading left. I
16:12got 4 hours last night.
16:13Best I've done all week. All
16:16of us wanted to be visionaries to build
16:19buildings that were iconic paradigm shifting.
16:21Most of us would never concern ourselves
16:23with anything beyond molding dimensions,
16:25and the placement of bathroom fixtures.
16:29When I had a spare moment,
16:30I found myself not getting some much
16:32needed sleep, but binge watching
16:33YouTube videos late into the night.
16:36But it was worse when I didn't sleep.
16:41My fascination became fixation,
16:43then fear, seeping into my everyday life.
16:46I was terrified of stairs.
16:48I couldn't work, couldn't sleep.
16:51So let me get this straight.
16:53You couldn't finish your project
16:54because you were afraid that the
16:55building was going to collapse.
16:58I know, I know, it's stupid,
17:00but I can't stop thinking about it.
17:02Look, you're a smart girl.
17:04You've done good work here so far.
17:06I don't need to tell you why
17:07this is completely illogical.
17:09Where did this all come from?
17:12I don't know. I do you know
17:14that story about the library that collapsed
17:16because the architects forgot to account
17:17for the weight of the books? It's just.
17:21How can anyone be
17:21sure they've accounted for everything?
17:24That's an urban legend. And for the
17:26record, it says that the library
17:28is sinking, not collapsing.
17:30Well, maybe you can design A strip malls.
17:36My first real panic attack happened
17:37during the year's first snowfall.
17:42Did the architects account
17:42for the weight of the snow?
17:55Thank you.
18:11Thank you so much Simone.
18:13That was wonderful.
18:16Appreciate that.
18:18Next we have Adriana Tersoff.
18:22From the school Graduate School
18:23of Arts and Sciences, MD,
18:25PhD program with first place tied
18:27for first place in the pros category
18:30with with her entry the judge.
18:33Thank you, Adriana.
18:35Thank you very much.
18:37So my story was actually from when I
18:39was on the wards, about four years ago.
18:43I just started my internal medicine
18:46rotation and this patient and his
18:50story really stuck out to me.
18:52And so I wrote this about him.
18:56It's called the judge.
18:58Two years ago a colleague showed me
19:00a picture she had taken after the
19:02judges last day in the hospital,
19:04an empty wheelchair with judge
19:06plastered on the back.
19:07The image was poetic.
19:09He needed no qualifiers.
19:10He was simply the judge.
19:12A legend on the oncology ward.
19:14He passed away.
19:15Not long after that picture
19:16was taken despite his tenacity
19:18to overcome his illness.
19:20Still,
19:20the image was proof that he had
19:22won his other battle to retain
19:24his identity and dignity even
19:26as he became a patient.
19:27I remember the first day I met him,
19:29a deluge of activity sparked about me.
19:32The judge was coming and
19:33he was not happy about it.
19:35I gleaned that he was well known on the ward.
19:38Everyone was discussing the very
19:40particular arrangements for his stay,
19:41his audacity to request a special room,
19:44how he insisted on being called judge.
19:47Sure,
19:47he was an accomplished professional,
19:49but his fastidiousness and what appear
19:51to be presumption graded many why was
19:54he more important than other patients?
19:56After all, shouldn't the hospital?
19:57Of all places,
19:58be a level playing field.
20:00Everyone got sick and everyone was
20:02entitled to the same standard of care.
20:04The anxiety rubbed off on me too.
20:06I began regretting that extra slice of
20:08pizza during lunch as my insides fluttered.
20:11How could he possibly react to a
20:13newly minted and barely competent
20:15medical student could never even done
20:16a full physical exam on the wards,
20:18when apparently he antagonized
20:21even the attending?
20:22I put on my short white coat and
20:24settled up for the battle to come
20:26notebook in one hand and stethoscope
20:27and the other I saw his name printed
20:30in Big Block letters on the sign
20:32next to his room with a slanted
20:34Hon clearly handwritten next to it.
20:37I felt my heart racing as I
20:39reached out to knock.
20:40I expected a stern man with an
20:42imposing frame humorless face.
20:44Maybe a thick set jaw with jowls instead.
20:47I was met with a slight figure on the couch.
20:50Pale is China and apparently
20:52just as delicate.
20:53The snapshot of his frailty, though,
20:55was short lived the instant I walked in.
20:57He sat up and held himself rigidly
21:00suppressing any signs of the effort.
21:01It must have cost to get up.
21:03His mustache quivered as he coughed,
21:05but then he addressed me,
21:06his voice firm and steady.
21:08Please introduce yourself.
21:10As I stated, my name and purpose,
21:12his wife, a wispy and elegant woman,
21:15started pushing a chair towards me,
21:17trying to be polite and
21:18save her from the effort.
21:19I said that it really wasn't necessary.
21:21I could speak standing up.
21:23It's not for you,
21:24she said matter of factly without
21:26even a glance at me.
21:27She continued pushing the
21:29chair completely unfazed.
21:31I quickly turned around thinking
21:32I might have missed someone.
21:33In my initial survey of the room,
21:35there was no one else confused,
21:38and now even more and mortified,
21:39I looked back at her.
21:40Regretting my life choices,
21:42my embarrassment must have shown since
21:44at that moment the judge spoke behind me.
21:47Don't worry,
21:47it is to make you comfortable,
21:49but also to help us feel more at ease here.
21:52Sit down. Let me explain.
21:54The judge began to explain every
21:56morning in the hospital he would be
21:58visited by a group of white coats.
22:00He hated it.
22:01Seven or eight of them
22:02would hover over his bed,
22:04watch him talk about him and make notes
22:06as if he were specimen for study.
22:08It made him feel small, insignificant.
22:10And worst of all, helpless.
22:13This team was also always in flux,
22:15as medical students joined and
22:17shifts ended so that it was
22:18impossible for him to keep track of
22:20who was there and what they knew.
22:22There just appeared to be a
22:24massive professionals discussing
22:25him in the third person already,
22:27his disease had rendered him vulnerable,
22:29but the hospital environment
22:30worked in tandem to chip away at
22:32his sense of agency and identity.
22:34Why could it not be a conversation?
22:36Why could we not communicate
22:37with each other as people rather
22:39than only as doctor and patient?
22:41The chair was part of his attempt to
22:43tear down these dehumanizing walls
22:45and help us see each other face to face.
22:48I considered his words.
22:49The hospital may be a level playing field,
22:52but it accomplished this in some
22:54sense by stripping away personhood
22:56and labeling everyone as patient,
22:58which came to mean an object of disease.
23:01This also ultimately dehumanized
23:02the medical professional whose goal
23:05was to dispassionately examine
23:06and treat this object.
23:08The resulting power dynamic
23:09created a dichotomy of us.
23:11And then white coat and patient labeled
23:14that devour the individual behind them.
23:16I consider the judge now in this context,
23:19perhaps what others had deemed
23:21to be pretension.
23:22The title, the demeanor,
23:23his way it was,
23:25his way of fighting against an
23:27oppressive dehumanizing environment.
23:29As I communicated with him,
23:31I realized that he did not
23:32necessarily wish to be treated with
23:34more respect than everyone else,
23:36but to indicate in his own way
23:38that he believed the respect and
23:40dignity given to patients was not
23:42adequate for him or for anyone else.
23:44He just had the privilege and
23:46confidence to be heard.
23:48How many others felt this way but
23:50were unable or afraid to voice their
23:53opinions to the white coats before them?
23:55Now, four years later, though,
23:57I remember learning about the judges,
23:58treatments, and symptoms.
23:59I couldn't tell you the specifics.
24:01What remains crystal clear to me,
24:03though,
24:03is the man sitting up tall and
24:05fighting for his identity and dignity.
24:07I have taken his lesson to heart
24:09changing my approach and sharing
24:11his experience,
24:12especially for those that might
24:13not have a voice in the hospital.
24:15Those who might not have an Hon that
24:18they can write next to their name.
24:20Though a change of attitude
24:21and practice might take time,
24:23the first step is exactly
24:24as the judge did for me,
24:26bringing us eye to eye with a chair.
24:29Thank you.
24:35Very good thank you.
24:37I was wonderful.
24:39Thank you very much Adriana.
24:41Next up we have Zeneth Indianola.
24:45Who is from the Yale School of
24:48Nursing graduating in 2024?
24:51Xenex's piece won honorable
24:52mention in the visual arts category
24:55and is entitled Mom and Me.
24:57Zaynap thank
24:59you so much. I'm so honored to be
25:01here and listening to everyone's
25:02work and seeing everyone's work
25:03has been really wonderful.
25:05Everyone is so talented,
25:07so thank you so much.
25:17So this piece, hopefully everyone
25:20can see it
25:21was created using acrylic paints on canvas
25:25and it's me and my mom together. After
25:29about a year after
25:30I was born
25:31and we were living in Colorado
25:33Springs at the time and the voting
25:35that the photo that this painting
25:37is based on was taken by my dad
25:40while my parents want a winter hike.
25:42With me, my mom and dad love hiking and
25:46every time they go hiking I
25:47was always with them like,
25:48no matter how little
25:49I was. And apparently
25:50I loved it
25:52and I wanted to capture the
25:55tenderness and the adventure of
25:57New Parenthood for my. My
25:59mom, who I love very much.
26:53Anybody would like to make
26:55any comments? They're welcome.
26:58It's beautiful paint picture.
27:03Thank you.
27:08And the tattoo says people are
27:10saying it's beautiful, so beautiful.
27:12And please keep painting. Thank you.
27:15Thank you so much for those nice comments.
27:19Wonderful really appreciate it. Great.
27:24Next we have Mariko Fujimoto Brooks,
27:28who actually has two winning pieces,
27:31the first of which I will tell in a minute.
27:34She's from the Yale School of
27:36Public Health to graduate this year.
27:38The first piece is an honorable
27:40mention in the poetry category
27:43entitled Enumerations on Love.
27:45The second piece is a third place
27:47tie in the poetry category,
27:50and I will let Maddie go tell you about that.
27:55Hi everyone, thank you so much for having
27:57me today and thank you so much to everyone
27:59who's been involved with this contest.
28:00It's been such a pleasure being a part
28:02of the cohort every year that I've
28:03been at the School of Public Health.
28:05And actually if it's OK going to switch the
28:07order for today because I think we should
28:09end on a happy poem in a world that is.
28:12I think sometimes struggling to find
28:13a little bit of lightness these days.
28:15So this first poem which is entitled
28:18on white coated flags or what victory
28:20surrenders is a poem about my paternal
28:22grandfather who was an army medic.
28:25During the Vietnam War,
28:26and I wrote this poem because I was
28:29very interested in the politics and
28:31complications of having people in the
28:33field whose job it is to heal during
28:36an inherently violent and inherently
28:39life destroying mission that is war,
28:41and so just sort of playing with
28:43those themes and how that
28:46impacts intergenerationally.
28:47The way in which our entire family heals,
28:50so I'll go ahead and read that one first.
28:55Sometimes when fear glazes over my father's
28:58eyes, I see my grandfather's white coat
29:01slowly staining itself into the jungle earth
29:04as he kneels in the shadows of liberties.
29:07Too hot torch 15 years he spent ripping seams
29:10in the lines between killing and saving.
29:13Sewing men back together just so they
29:16could split each other apart again.
29:184 tours he spent hypocrisy curled on
29:21the back of his tongue as he promised
29:24to do known harm, or at least.
29:27Let it be done.
29:29All bullets have memories,
29:31especially the ones that are left unfired.
29:34What do you do when those tasked with
29:36healing find lead pressed into the
29:38corners and crevices of their own minds?
29:40When the constant caressing of memories
29:43slick fingers distend a man that a
29:45family once called home into a new
29:47person entirely blank brain split
29:48with the weight of its own stitches.
29:51They have a new name for it now PTSD,
29:55but really it is the smell of
29:57cigarette smoke and the fall.
29:58The sound of flashing fireworks blooming
30:00red across the sky, it is the silence.
30:04That awaits.
30:06When no one knows what will smear
30:08past and present together across
30:10the operating table of memory.
30:12When survival is enough to bring him home,
30:14but far too much for him to stay mercy.
30:18Becomes the sharp scent of Kansas
30:20grass breaking under his feet as he
30:23walks out the door again, hoping.
30:25He can finally heal himself.
30:29Thank you.
30:34All right, the second poems for today
30:37is going to be a numerations on love,
30:41which is, quite simply,
30:42a love letter to my friends.
30:44I'm in Yale's Asian American spoken
30:46word group and one of our challenges
30:48this year was to write some happy poems,
30:51so hopefully this is one of them.
30:56I am tired of adding up
30:58bodies positive test days.
30:59We were forced to part instead.
31:01How do we love each other?
31:03Let me count the ways.
31:05One when we trust the earth to hold us.
31:08Sometimes sorrow isn't the light caress
31:10of my mother's hand against my cheek.
31:13Instead, it sits bloated like rotten Jacko
31:16Lanters perched on a porch in November,
31:18spilling out like a denim covered waistline,
31:22the stomach over the cut.
31:25When all of the unhackable things
31:27that we cannot help but hold leave our
31:29fingers chapped and our shoulders aching.
31:32Remember that nothing you have
31:33given the Earth has ever been.
31:35Some heavy for her, the apocalypse has come,
31:38but the ground has still not
31:39split open beneath you.
31:40Sometimes the earth will ask you
31:43quietly if she can hold your sadness.
31:45Sometimes it's OK to let her too.
31:49When we treat everything as reverence
31:52on a warm Friday night in November,
31:55here are the things that I know are holy.
31:57Isabel pledges allegiance
31:59to her grandfather's hands.
32:00Alicia counts dreams on the
32:02iridescent wings of cicadas.
32:03Dean tells Kaylee that home
32:05is wherever she makes it.
32:06Lillian and Alice are pressed next to
32:08me in the car jacket to down jacket.
32:10The world exhales and breath.
32:13Made of giant, drier warm sheets,
32:15and for a moment the Yellow Street
32:18light makes everything look like you.
32:203. When we give up.
32:23If nothing else,
32:24I will tell my children that whiteness
32:26has always been the color of surrender,
32:28but never the courage and leaving.
32:31Four,
32:31when the house is built for you,
32:34because I don't know if I'd call
32:36love homecoming so much as it is
32:38slipping off your shoes when you
32:39enter the door without quite knowing
32:41the contours of the entryway.
32:43When love looks at us,
32:44or at least when it sees us all we
32:47need to do is grasp the unsanded
32:49wooden planks and press our
32:51foreheads against the grain,
32:52which is to say against each other.
32:565.
32:56When we've decided we've
32:58arrived wherever we are.
33:00When the moonlight suspends arcs of
33:02ocean against your cheek until your salt
33:04light eyes cannot tell the difference
33:06between spray mingling with Starlight,
33:08leaving you gasping,
33:09breathless,
33:10the vast expanse in between,
33:12we don't need to be more than the soft
33:14galaxies already running through our
33:16veins forever might only be a sandcastle,
33:18but we were always the sea,
33:20love eroding our edges,
33:21carving valleys and rivers into
33:23stomachs and thighs like the moon
33:25pulls the tide through rocks to sit.
33:27The shoreline this is the
33:29home stretch and here are you
33:32remarkably living through it.
33:34Thank you everyone.
33:38Wow, wonderful, thank you so much and
33:42thank you for for your the changing.
33:45The order. That was perfect.
33:47I appreciate that. Next,
33:49the next presenter wasn't able to make it.
33:52Nicholas Riddell is a Yale position associate
33:55program student to graduate this year.
33:58Nicholas won Andrew mentioned
34:00in the visual arts category for
34:03his piece entitled Jahi McGrath.
34:06We congratulate him.
34:08Next is going to be. Taylor Evans,
34:12a Yale School of Nursing student.
34:15To graduate in 2024.
34:18Interested in nurse midwifery?
34:20Taylor once tied for second
34:22place in the prose category with
34:25her story a mother's musings.
34:27Thank you, Taylor.
34:29Thank you.
34:31I just wanted to echo what everyone
34:33has been saying which is adding
34:35so honored to be here and listen
34:37to the creative sides of my peers
34:40and hopefully future colleagues.
34:41So this piece is entitled and
34:44mother's musings and is really
34:46getting at kind of undermining
34:48societal expectations of what does
34:50it mean to be a mom and a woman?
34:55So let me be clear,
34:57this is not an apology,
34:59it is an explanation. I did leave,
35:01but I did not leave you behind.
35:03That is impossible.
35:04And though you are only half me,
35:07you were wholly of me.
35:09Songwriters often talk about how the people
35:11they love are inscribed on their hearts,
35:13but I will always carry you
35:15in the form of stretch marks.
35:17You see, there are some things
35:18that we can predict with clarity.
35:20The leathery feeling of the air
35:22when a summer storm rolls in.
35:24The rush of blood when your knee is grazed.
35:26I had the same kinds of premonitions
35:28about my own life and I knew with
35:30the same kind of certainty that I
35:32could not be the mother you deserved.
35:33I imagine that's difficult to understand
35:36because it's difficult to admit.
35:38Still, I won't apologize for who I am,
35:41just as I won't ask for your forgiveness.
35:43Both would be ingenuine and
35:45if I can ask anything of you,
35:46it is to be nothing other than yourself,
35:49fully, painfully, truthfully.
35:53Much to your grandmother's chagrin,
35:54I finished medical school even as she
35:56still sent me applications to MFA programs.
35:59Radiology, with its clear precision
36:01and black and white definitions,
36:03became a haven.
36:04And while the body can be scanned
36:06and have its most hidden parts
36:08exposed by some beams of radiation,
36:10the fissured mass that harbors our
36:13subconscious remains impenetrable by
36:15even the most sophisticated imaging.
36:17Sometimes the limitations of my
36:19insight frustrated me always seeing the
36:21slightest sinus and cleanest breaks,
36:23but never really getting to know
36:25the person behind the body.
36:26That information belonged to them alone.
36:30It became clear that your father
36:32should have been the one in Group
36:33chats with my friends who had become
36:35new parents as I started filling
36:37their homes with spouses and children,
36:39my time started filling with more
36:40hours spent in front of the monitor.
36:43Other women might have loved to
36:44see their partner take an interest
36:46in starting a family.
36:47Other women might have seen their husband,
36:49their husband eyeing the stroller
36:51aisle at Target,
36:52and rushed home to conceive something
36:54to populate such a contraption.
36:56But his fantasies were a real threat to be.
36:58I was excelling at work and climbing
37:00the ranks with every annual review.
37:03When his hand grazed my stomach,
37:04it felt like a sharp reminder that
37:06my uterus remained to his relief.
37:08To my relief, at his disappointment, vacant.
37:12Once I pulled away from his touch,
37:14this comes so naturally to most women,
37:16he said.
37:16But I'm not most women remember
37:19that's why you asked me to marry you.
37:22Months passed and eventually he
37:24stopped asking for children.
37:26I don't suggest watching the person
37:27you love give up something for
37:29you unless you can live with a
37:31resentment that's likely to follow.
37:33How could I keep denying him happiness
37:35when it was all he had given to me?
37:38Did you know that a woman sensitivity
37:41to potential contaminants
37:42intensifies in her first trimester
37:44to avoid ingesting anything
37:46dangerous to to a developing fetus?
37:48An evolutionary advantage,
37:50but seriously inconvenience to me.
37:52I vomited so often I began to wonder if
37:55this was how my body was rejecting you.
37:58They warn you about the swollen
38:00ankles and the sleepless nights,
38:01but they don't prepare you for how
38:03cushions gasp under your weight or
38:05how your gait falters when you walk.
38:07I wanted to submit myself
38:08to an xray more than once,
38:10but I already knew the cause of
38:12my discomfort and I would only
38:14see your body curled inside me.
38:16I really tried not to resent you
38:18for the ways you were eroding me.
38:20Your father would remind me
38:21that nine months was a short and
38:23temporary amount of time.
38:25But he also didn't have to deal with
38:27sleepless nights because you had decided
38:29to lodge yourself against my bladder.
38:31He didn't understand the horror of
38:33watching your body morph and sag and
38:35expand after having spent the majority
38:37of my adolescent years trying to figure
38:39out how to rid myself of unwanted pounds.
38:43Once an elderly woman approached
38:45me while I was sniffing the navels
38:47of oranges at the grocery store.
38:48Without worrying,
38:49she placed her hand on my protruding belly.
38:52God bless you, she said,
38:53as of sanctifying me.
38:54I smiled the way I smile at your father
38:57when he ****** me off in public.
38:59God had nothing to do with this.
39:02Scientists say that women have evolved
39:04to forget the pain of childbirth,
39:06not me.
39:07I remember every contraction,
39:09every urge from above,
39:11every searing tear from below.
39:13When a flood of pain washed over me,
39:14I chanted I can't do it.
39:16I can't do it like a satanic mantra.
39:19My mother crouched next to me.
39:20Don't be ridiculous.
39:22Women have been having babies for
39:24centuries and you get drugs to help you.
39:26She read my shoulders and before
39:28I could tell her to leave another
39:30wave dragged me under.
39:31Every time the doctor appeared
39:33between my legs,
39:34it seemed more in a front than the last.
39:36Your father's encouraging words became tons,
39:39and my inability to cope
39:41became overwhelmingly obvious.
39:42When the nurses brought in
39:43another woman to explain the pain,
39:45I was feeling it was productive.
39:47It was powerful. It was ********.
39:51At the end you were laid across
39:53my swollen breath as a lactation
39:55specialist hovered in the corner
39:56as though she could already sense
39:58my incompetence.
39:59You were two weeks old when I
40:00tried to go back to work,
40:02but the partners at the office
40:03refused my offer.
40:04I didn't know how to tell them that
40:06their dismissal felt like a sentencing.
40:08I was tired of having put my
40:10career on pause to spawn a human.
40:12It's been happening for thousands
40:13of years and yet the novelty of
40:16babies still hasn't worn off.
40:18And I tried tirelessly to appease you.
40:20I did,
40:20but I could never decide for your
40:22gurgles and bacon expressions,
40:24and every sniffle made me feel
40:26more inadequate than the last.
40:28I've been reading enough articles in
40:30the American Journal Psychiatry to
40:32know the postpartum depression was
40:34becoming increasingly legitimized.
40:35Still, I wondered if what I was
40:37feeling could be attributed to a
40:39neurotransmitter imbalance or just the
40:41knowledge that it was unfit for this job.
40:43Our family doesn't get depression.
40:45My mother would say as she
40:46bounced you in her arms.
40:47I tried not to think about
40:49how natural she loved,
40:50how it easy you appeared cradled to her.
40:53What do you think your patients
40:54will say if they find out
40:56you've gone to the nut house?
40:57Just find a mommy and baby group and
40:59drink some wine like the rest of us did.
41:03As you grew out of your toddler
41:04years and into your preteens,
41:06you started to look like me and it
41:08broke my heart because I didn't know
41:09how to keep the fat from your thighs or
41:12they or erase the frizz from your hair.
41:14When you scraped your knee playing
41:16tag with the neighborhood kids,
41:17I didn't know how to comfort you because
41:19I knew nothing was actually broken.
41:21But you are still inconsolable.
41:23I've set the bones of three year olds
41:25of broken arms who didn't bail us out,
41:27who didn't wail, as out as you did that day.
41:29But your father pulled you into him,
41:31called the injury Boo Boo,
41:33and gave it a loving kiss before
41:35getting you a scoop of ice cream.
41:37You ran straight to him, instinctually,
41:38knowing that he would be able to comfort you.
41:42I wonder then, as I often do now,
41:44if you had known at birth when
41:45you were placed over my heart,
41:47that you were never going to get
41:49the nutrients you needed from me.
41:51The rest of the story you know
41:52when you were 13 you woke up to a
41:54note saying that I had gone and I
41:56didn't know when I would return,
41:57but that I loved you.
41:59What you don't know is that you
42:01became a phantom limb in my life.
42:03I know the years that have
42:05passed are unbridgeable.
42:06I did not write to try to mend
42:07what I know cannot be mended.
42:09I know what I've done has left
42:11breaks and fractures that will
42:13never appear on any X ray.
42:14I know this.
42:16Still, what I wanted for myself,
42:18I want for you.
42:20To stay true to yourself,
42:21you're ambitions and your aspirations.
42:24But I would caution you against clinging
42:26to them so unrelentingly that you
42:28lose a part of yourself that you love.
42:30For me, that part has always been you.
42:34Thank you.
42:45Wow, Taylor. That was wonderful.
42:49Thank you, thank you for
42:51sharing that beautiful story.
42:54That was. Thanks to everyone and then a chat.
42:58There's a lot of people saying wonderful
43:01things about our amazing presenters
43:03and how eloquent and just beautiful
43:07these stories and and pieces are.
43:10So thank you, thank you for sharing that.
43:14Next we have Alex Appley,
43:17a Yale physician associate
43:18program student to graduate,
43:20probably tomorrow this year,
43:22who won honorable mention in the visual
43:26arts category because he's drowning.
43:30Alex hi, how's it going?
43:33Everyone has been great so far.
43:37I'd like to share my piece I wrote I.
43:41Drew this in didactic year.
43:46Because all about?
43:49Although the book learning.
43:51And as you can see,
43:54it's the see it's made up of.
43:58All of the medical terms,
43:59and there's someone drowning in the middle,
44:02and I guess that was me at the time,
44:04but.
44:06I can say now that I've
44:08safely swam to shore
44:10and now I just look out
44:11occasionally at the ocean.
44:15Make sure I still retain it all. And
44:18very fittingly, I
44:20drew this in notability, which is a
44:25app for note taking.
44:51All right?
44:57Wow, thank you Alex, that is amazing.
45:01That's something else I know a
45:03lot of people use notability,
45:04that's wonderful work and I I
45:07love the metaphor. The chat is.
45:10Popping what a great visual metaphor.
45:12Congrats Alex. I remember your piece well.
45:14Love it. Thanks Alex. Nice work Alex.
45:17Congratulate and someone
45:18said we can all relate.
45:20I'm sure all of us can relate.
45:22People are saying so.
45:23Thank you for for extending that
45:26bit of humanism to the rest of us.
45:29I appreciate that.
45:30I think we all do thank you.
45:34Perfect perfect Next up
45:36we have Olivia Belliveau,
45:39a Yale School of Medicine
45:41student to graduate in 2025.
45:43Olivia has a third place tie in the poetry.
45:47Category of the contest with
45:49the piece entitled Naked In
45:52Front of William Hunter.
45:54Thanks Olivia.
46:00Hi everyone, my name is Olivia.
46:02I'm very grateful to be here with
46:04you all so I wrote this piece in
46:07response to a 2019 exhibit at
46:10the Yale Center for British Art,
46:12which was called William Hunter and
46:13the anatomy of the modern museum.
46:15Sorry, there's a siren in the background.
46:19William Hunter was an 18th century anatomist,
46:22obstetrician, professor and collector
46:24who was famous for creating models
46:27of the pregnant body in part through
46:29cadaveric dissections of 13 women.
46:31So the images that will be displayed
46:33here as they read are photographs
46:35that I took of the exhibit.
46:36So just a disclaimer that some of these
46:39images are artistic or anatomical
46:40renderings of human dissection.
46:42So if that might be a bit too much,
46:43please feel free to minimize
46:45your your zoom screen.
46:48All right, so it's called naked
46:50in front of William Hunter. 1.
46:55Methods. Names have been excised,
46:59replaced with colors damned with wax.
47:02The rivers under skin have been dried.
47:06This will be recorded.
47:092. Atlas. The heart at
47:14the center of the Earth.
47:15It too is drying somewhere.
47:18Gravid uterus heavy with something.
47:22Heavier and cross section.
47:25Heavier still in ink.
47:293. Study of a child in utero.
47:335 variants on infant.
47:36Swaddled and body eyes closed.
47:39In utero means waiting
47:42forever to understand light.
47:44Womb is meant to be transient home.
47:46Here permanent room and canvas.
47:50That once was woman,
47:51now a book of naps.
47:554. Pedagogy. In death, the farmer's
48:00daughter did not know this about harvest.
48:03Did not know shovels excavating full moon.
48:07Did not know her body once laid to rest.
48:10Could surface without her.
48:12Brought further from life than death.
48:15He knew imperialism.
48:17Required mediation sometimes.
48:20Her body was found
48:22unresting under the school.
48:23Doubled up in a heap entirely
48:26covered with the grave clothes.
48:28The townspeople revolted.
48:30Death to the students. He was hunting.
48:34Phone treasure under Bone moon.
48:385. 7th subject.
48:42He breaks the body and stages of
48:45dissection to know where contours rest.
48:48The artists need to see and he will
48:51show them by pretending sculpture.
48:53Illuminating same fruit slices of leg,
48:56same folds of Stoney fingers.
48:59He calls the body subject
49:02meaning object of study.
49:05Subject was buried at nameless.
49:07Subject did not know.
49:09Rest was not rest.
49:11Subject Knew to call herself only she.
49:15Only I. Subject did not know life ended
49:20and life inside her ended and still.
49:23The shape of life of the both of them.
49:27Would persist nested cold in modern life.
49:326. Wandering wound theory.
49:36The Greeks described the
49:38relationship of womb to women.
49:40An animal within an animal.
49:42Purported it could rise
49:44and clang for attention.
49:45Mayhem under muscle.
49:48Hunter breaks the rock and finds it a geode.
49:51Not going anywhere.
49:53Pen and Ink suggest a flower within a flower.
49:58Desiccating that's all,
50:00thank you.
50:06Wonderful. Thank you Olivia.
50:10That was very clever.
50:14Very nice. Perfect thank you.
50:17Next we have Erica Chang Singh,
50:20a Yale School of Medicine student,
50:22to graduate in 2024.
50:25Who won honorable mention in the
50:27poetry section of the contest
50:30with her poem little node? Erica
50:34thank you so much for that
50:36introduction and for having me here.
50:38I wrote this poem a few months ago at
50:40the beginning of the dedicated period
50:42that they gave us to study for the
50:44board exam and I just scrambled and
50:47scraped just to keep up in medical
50:50school and never really felt like I
50:52had time to review all the material
50:55that we've learned and past courses.
50:58And so this is how I felt.
51:02I beheaded all my plants the other day.
51:05My Hoya had just started
51:07to trail out of its pot.
51:09Miss Syngonium had a new leaf,
51:11still curled up like a cocoon.
51:14Mr Nepenthes had the
51:16beginnings of a new picture.
51:18They were so beautiful.
51:21I could have left them alone to grow,
51:23but I wanted to bring them
51:25home from school with me.
51:26So I snip snip, snipped,
51:29and I wrapped their oozing nubs and Moss
51:33and packed them away in my suitcase.
51:36Now they are here with me in California.
51:39They sit in water trying to grow roots.
51:43I imagine they are asking themselves.
51:46Didn't I already do this?
51:50Meanwhile,
51:50I study for my board exam and ask myself,
51:55didn't I already learn this?
51:57Shouldn't I already know this?
52:01Part of me wants to believe I didn't.
52:04Because I don't.
52:06It scares me how profoundly I forget.
52:10As easily and completely as a scissor sniff.
52:15I remember Embryology the same way
52:18my plants remember their old roots.
52:21These things that were once ours.
52:24They are no help to us now.
52:27We will all just have to start over.
52:31Sometimes people spend hundreds of
52:34dollars on little pieces of plant stem.
52:39These are called notes.
52:41They're the shape and size of Tootsie rolls.
52:45They have no leaves and no roots.
52:48Just the little stem cells hidden away.
52:52People trust their ability
52:53to grow roots and leaves,
52:55but they are paying only for potential.
52:59This scares and disturbs me.
53:03But it also comforts me.
53:05For I am like a node.
53:07No roots yet, no leaves yet.
53:11I probably cannot detect your murmur.
53:14A fortune is riding on that to change.
53:18Maybe it's a good investment. I hope so.
53:22We will all just have to wait.
53:25Thank you.
53:31Thank you so much, Erica.
53:33I think probably everybody
53:35on this has felt that way.
53:37So thank you so much for
53:39putting that to words.
53:41So eloquently, thank you.
53:44It was wonderful.
53:46Next, we have Barbara Odak.
53:49Barbara is a Yale School of Public
53:51Health student to graduate this year,
53:53Barbara won second place,
53:54tied for second place in the
53:56prose section of the contest.
53:58For her letter for her piece,
54:00entitled A letter to SARS,
54:02Kobe 2 from HIV.
54:05Barbara
54:08thank you so much. Let me share my screen.
54:16Can you see this?
54:19Yes, I'm sorry with this piece.
54:22Last year after sitting in an HIV TB
54:25class and wondering how come we had had
54:29made such huge advancements in COVID,
54:32but we still had a lot of work to do.
54:36In regards to HIV AIDS, especially
54:38coming from Africa come from Nairobi,
54:40Kenya and Africa is still a continent
54:44with the greatest global burden of HIV,
54:47so this is what came out of that.
54:52A letter to SARS, COVID 2 from HIV.
54:55Dear SARS, covie too.
54:57It was a pleasure to learn of your
54:59existence and know that another disease
55:01has come to cause such a global impact.
55:04It has been interesting to watch
55:06your progression over time and
55:08see how the world has responded.
55:10To be honest, I didn't think you would
55:13last very long with the medical advances,
55:16the humans seemed to develop each day
55:18I had given you just six months before
55:20they would forget of your existence.
55:23You have surprised me on that
55:25with your impressive notation,
55:26skills and ability to be
55:29progressively contagious.
55:29You're on your way to three years.
55:32I thought it would be nice to
55:33reflect on your journey and perhaps
55:35teach you some life skills.
55:37After all,
55:37it has been 40 years since I was discovered.
55:40Rick have ocarinas and
55:42I'm still going strong.
55:45The fastest testing humans generally
55:47don't like testing and I can't figure
55:50out why this buys us time though.
55:52Time to get new hosts and
55:54spread like wildfire.
55:56It was about four years from the
55:57time of my discovery to the time
56:00that fast blood test was available.
56:02That coupled with my long latency,
56:04I had a head start.
56:06Unfortunately for you,
56:07so ours it was a couple of
56:09months between your discovery.
56:11In testing.
56:12Despite that you have still done
56:15well being able to spread through
56:17exposure to respiratory fluids
56:19has given you an advantage.
56:21I could only envy.
56:22I can't believe how widespread
56:24they have made tests for you.
56:26Your best bet is to target
56:28understaffed communities where
56:29access is and so prevalent and
56:31why they have to pay for testing.
56:33It's a good thing such inequality
56:35still exist in the world even in 2022.
56:392nd is prevention.
56:411 disadvantage of your mode of
56:43transmission is that there are
56:45immediate remedies to limit infection.
56:46I had underestimated the capabilities
56:48of humans to use the law for
56:51the good of public health.
56:52They did it with the so-called
56:54mask mandates they put in place.
56:57They gave me the least confidence in you,
56:59making it.
57:00The good thing is that the
57:02diverse nature of humans.
57:04They're always those who are non compliant,
57:06wearing masks and going as far as holding
57:08rallies to protest, stay at home measures.
57:12That bugged out.
57:13Great for you.
57:14I,
57:14on the other hand,
57:15don't have such problems with my main
57:18motive transmission being sexual intercourse,
57:20I think I'm pretty set for life.
57:23Hopefully they don't think of
57:25coming up with something as
57:26crazy as HIV testing mandates.
57:28The good news is I'm still
57:31fighting the bad news.
57:33So are humans.
57:33If I've made it to 40 years without
57:36being eradicated and without a
57:38successful vaccine being developed,
57:40there must be something I'm doing right.
57:42Lest I forget,
57:43you're invited to my 41st
57:45birthday on December 1st.
57:47Actually,
57:49the humans commemorated
57:50meet annually on that day.
57:51As I sit back,
57:53relax and gasp Isaac relief that I
57:56have made it through another year.
57:58Hope to see you there says COVID too.
58:01Stay safe. Regards, human
58:04immunodeficiency virus and.
58:11Just wonderful. So clever.
58:14Thank you for for presenting that
58:18I appreciate that that was great.
58:20The chat is saying so well done hysterical.
58:22Thank you. It's really clever.
58:25Thank you. Great.
58:29Grace Wang is a Yale School of
58:32Medicine student to graduate in 2025.
58:35Grace has honorable mention in
58:37the art visual arts category of
58:40our contest with a submission
58:42entitled Weathered grace.
58:46Hi, thank you so much for
58:48putting this event together.
58:50It's really I'm really grateful to be
58:51able to share my work with all of you.
58:55So this is my piece entitled weathered.
59:00The backdrop that inspired this piece was
59:03basically just the collective vulnerability,
59:06fatigue and isolation that was felt
59:09by and expressed by many people
59:11in my life during the pandemic,
59:13and in creating this piece I was also
59:15reflecting on the role of art in my life.
59:18I spent a lot of the pandemic just
59:20creating art in my backyard and
59:22also on the coast of Washington
59:24where I'm from by the ocean,
59:26and I found a lot of peace
59:29and solace just
59:30being there in nature.
59:32Both on sunny days as well as on
59:34days that were drenched by the ever
59:36consistent Pacific Northwest rain.
59:38And so I wanted to capture this idea
59:40of the heart as part of the landscape
59:42that it's in taking advantage of the
59:45fluidity of watercolor as a medium.
59:48So yeah, I was
59:48just hoping to capture
59:49this dual depiction
59:50of the heart as weathered,
59:52but also part of the landscape
59:54that it's set in. Thank you.
01:00:05Thank you very much,
01:00:07that's beautiful and the chat
01:00:09people are saying gorgeous.
01:00:10I love the colors.
01:00:12Thank you so much. Beautiful,
01:00:14love your piece and the story behind it.
01:00:17Congratulations beautiful.
01:00:17Thank you Grace for sharing that with us.
01:00:24Aaron Phillips is a Yale physician
01:00:27assistant online program
01:00:28student to graduate in 2023,
01:00:30Aaron won honorable mention in
01:00:32the visual arts category with his
01:00:35submission entitled Holding on.
01:00:37Aaron. Thank
01:00:40you so much for having me.
01:00:42I will share my screen.
01:00:48So this is my drawing that I made.
01:00:52I learned or started to try to
01:00:55learn how to draw during the
01:00:57didactic year of my schooling.
01:00:59I was, I got an iPad Pro so I got
01:01:03procreate and I was trying to listen
01:01:05through lectures while not losing my mind.
01:01:08So I picked up drawing.
01:01:10This was one of the first drawings
01:01:12that I made where I figured
01:01:13this was kind of my style that
01:01:15I kind of figured something out.
01:01:17So I took an image and cut it so
01:01:19that you couldn't really see who was
01:01:21who and who was holding on to who.
01:01:24So it was just kind of this fun
01:01:27image of a continuation of two
01:01:29people holding on to each other and
01:01:31then kind of getting lost in it.
01:01:33So I hope you enjoy it.
01:01:47Oh, thank you Aaron.
01:01:49Wonderful people are saying
01:01:51lovely gorgeous gorgeous wow.
01:01:54So nice thank you for sharing that.
01:01:57It's very spectacular.
01:02:00We'll hear more from Aaron a little bit.
01:02:02But now Next up we have Simi or Detrola.
01:02:06Who's a Yale School of Public
01:02:09health student to graduate in 2023?
01:02:12Simi won honorable mention in the
01:02:14Prose category of the contest with
01:02:17a submission entitled Kismet Simi.
01:02:22Thank you so much Cynthia.
01:02:25I'm so honored to just be in
01:02:27the midst of all of this talent.
01:02:29Thank you so much.
01:02:31Everyone who shared so far my name is Simi.
01:02:34I am from Nigeria, Nigeria and Africa,
01:02:37is rich in culture and tradition and a lot
01:02:42of this cultural and traditional beliefs
01:02:45form a huge part of our identity and mine.
01:02:49They also influence the way that we interact
01:02:52with the world with science and technology.
01:02:55Also with medicine,
01:02:57this story is loosely based on three events
01:03:01and it is about mental health beliefs
01:03:05that have been tagged superstitious but
01:03:08are still very prevalent in Nigeria today.
01:03:12This is kismet.
01:03:15We lived on the same St until
01:03:17I was 12 years old.
01:03:19It was a regular street where
01:03:21nothing ever really happened.
01:03:22We were never close to our neighbors
01:03:25and my brother Aki and I were
01:03:27not friends with the other kids.
01:03:29When I turned 8 Baba,
01:03:31my maternal great uncle moved in with us.
01:03:36Baba never said much of anything to anyone
01:03:39he spent most of his time in his room,
01:03:41and he only sat to eat with us
01:03:43because my mother refused to
01:03:45let anyone eat in their rooms.
01:03:48My mother said once that Papa
01:03:50had a rough life,
01:03:52but when she wasn't listening,
01:03:54Uncle Gary,
01:03:54her brother,
01:03:55said Baba was the one who had made
01:03:57life rough for everyone around
01:03:59him and he could not imagine why
01:04:01my mother would bring him under
01:04:03her roof one rainy Thursday.
01:04:06The homeless woman who sat across
01:04:09the street from our house died.
01:04:11I remember the day because our
01:04:14handyman or Gary told us that it
01:04:16only rained that way on a weekday
01:04:19when an elephant was born.
01:04:21Ogary said a lot of things.
01:04:23Most of them I'm using.
01:04:25Some of them.
01:04:26I wish I had never heard you broke
01:04:29the news of the homeless woman's
01:04:31death to my mother and I when he
01:04:33came to fix the kitchen cabinet.
01:04:35He told us she had stayed in that same spot.
01:04:37For seven years,
01:04:39arriving at doing every day and leaving
01:04:42only when it started to get dark.
01:04:44I had watched her from duping
01:04:46doing my room many times.
01:04:48She never did more than say
01:04:50good morning to passes by while
01:04:53clutching a tattered stack full
01:04:55of things I could only imagine,
01:04:57Ogara told us a father was a wealthy
01:05:00farmer who used to live on our street.
01:05:03He went on to say that he strongly
01:05:06believed like most people,
01:05:07that a sudden mental decline was
01:05:11not without supernatural dimension.
01:05:13He also said.
01:05:14Matter of factly that it was
01:05:16sure that now that she was dead,
01:05:19the person who was responsible for a
01:05:22situation would soon take her place.
01:05:24My mother cleared a throat the
01:05:27way that she often did when Ogary
01:05:29started with these stories and
01:05:31he knew that was her reminding
01:05:33him that she did not allow such
01:05:35superstitious nonsense in her home.
01:05:37She prayed that the poor woman
01:05:40soul would rest in peace,
01:05:41and just as Ogary was about to say what
01:05:44he hopes would happen to the soul of
01:05:46whoever had caused their mental illness,
01:05:49my mother coughed again and told him
01:05:52the cabinets will not fix itself.
01:05:55Ogara's story about the homeless
01:05:56woman stayed with me all day long
01:05:59as I fell asleep that night.
01:06:01I imagined her as a sane,
01:06:04affluent woman and now straggly
01:06:07cornrows neat with every strand in place
01:06:10saying good morning one day and then
01:06:14suddenly being unable to stop doing so.
01:06:17It was raining.
01:06:18It was raining again when I
01:06:20woke up the next morning and as
01:06:21I went to shove my window,
01:06:23even in my drowsy state,
01:06:25I couldn't have missed him in the
01:06:27same spot the woman used to be.
01:06:29The sack of plastic bottles my mother hung
01:06:32by the kitchen door in his hand was Baba.
01:06:36My great uncle muttering good
01:06:39morning to the street vigilante.
01:06:41I do not fully recall what
01:06:43happened after that.
01:06:44I do remember watching from my window.
01:06:47As my father and uncle tried to get
01:06:50Baba into my father's car while he
01:06:53protested and yelled good morning
01:06:54louder than I had ever heard him
01:06:57say anything that was the last
01:06:59time I ever saw him.
01:07:01My parents told my brother Aki and
01:07:04I that they are taking Bubba to the
01:07:07federal teaching hospital and when and
01:07:09when I can't asked when we could visit,
01:07:11my mother said soon.
01:07:15We never did Ogara stopped coming
01:07:17to our house after that and we moved
01:07:21five months later, years after.
01:07:23When Aking got into medical school,
01:07:25he called me outside the first week
01:07:28in a psychiatry rotation to say
01:07:30that he knew what happened to Baba.
01:07:32He explained with a lot of medical jargon
01:07:34and more excitement than I thought.
01:07:37The situation warranted and concluded
01:07:40with a triumphant. It's all science.
01:07:43I didn't argue with them.
01:07:46But I wondered. Sometimes I still do.
01:07:52Thank you.
01:08:01That was wonderful.
01:08:03Striking beautiful.
01:08:05Cosimi touching beautiful chat
01:08:08is blowing up. Thank you so much.
01:08:12That was wonderful.
01:08:14Next, we have Christina Lepore.
01:08:16A Yale School of Medicine
01:08:18student to graduate in 2023,
01:08:19winning honorable mention in the prose
01:08:22category with her piece uniform.
01:08:27Thank you. And thank you to my fellow
01:08:31students who are so amazing and inspiring.
01:08:35I wrote this piece after a moving scene.
01:08:37I bore witness to during
01:08:39my Pediatrics rotation.
01:08:40I was struck by the similarities
01:08:42between the many roles we all play
01:08:44for when we care for the critically
01:08:46ill and the many ways that compassion
01:08:49can manifest itself in grave,
01:08:51grave and fragile circumstances.
01:08:54So the the piece is called uniform.
01:08:58Strands of September sunlight sliced
01:09:00through the hallway in the pediatric
01:09:03intensive care unit and gave the
01:09:05apprehensive array air around the
01:09:06infants hospital bed a paradoxical glow.
01:09:09Our tiny patient slept in a cocoon
01:09:11of wires and tubes undisturbed by
01:09:13the shrieks and pings of monitors
01:09:16she was unaware of the scrub clad
01:09:18phalanx assembling outside her door,
01:09:20poised for disaster.
01:09:23Ebstein anomaly had fashioned
01:09:24this two week old child's heart
01:09:27into a half hearted knot feebly
01:09:29bumping in her chest at top speed.
01:09:31She needed intubation,
01:09:32but we were not convinced that her
01:09:34heart would humor us through the
01:09:36stress of yet another procedure.
01:09:38A muted buzz of solemn voices pulsed
01:09:40around the crash cart opposite
01:09:42the infants room, as nurses,
01:09:44residents, and other medical staff
01:09:46took up an eerie vigil.
01:09:48Gloved hands laid out.
01:09:49Gleaming vials of epinephrine,
01:09:51saline syringes and sterile packets
01:09:53of tubing in the rhythmic dance
01:09:56of a well practiced protocol.
01:09:58Behind the palisade of blue scrubs,
01:10:00a figure in a white robe,
01:10:02girded with a crucifix,
01:10:03stood over the sleeping patient like us.
01:10:06He wore a uniform and was
01:10:08intent upon his work.
01:10:10He was sprinkling holy water from a
01:10:12glass bottle over the baby's soft head,
01:10:14as though he were tending to a flower
01:10:16bed rather than a hospital bed.
01:10:18His lips moved in a murmured
01:10:21conversation with her with God.
01:10:23Perhaps he was reintroducing
01:10:24the two to each other.
01:10:27He carried a benevolent
01:10:28quiet with him that I hope,
01:10:29would shield the baby girl from
01:10:31the uneasiness that vibrated
01:10:33through the hall outside her door.
01:10:35Her parents hung in the corner
01:10:37of her room like Gray ghosts
01:10:38draping weak arms around each
01:10:40other and watching the image of
01:10:42their sleeping daughter hungrily.
01:10:44They kept their distance as if
01:10:46the weight of their love and
01:10:48fear would physically crush her.
01:10:49For other families,
01:10:50baptism has an element of pageantry.
01:10:53A chubby cheeked infant decked
01:10:54out in a froth of white lace
01:10:57makes their spiritual debut.
01:10:58The priest's work that afternoon
01:11:00felt more like an insurance policy,
01:11:02a grim prophylactic measure.
01:11:04Just like the crash cart outside.
01:11:07Thank you.
01:11:15Thank you Christina. So eloquent.
01:11:22Wonderfully said.
01:11:25Wow, the chat is is congratulating you.
01:11:30Thank you for that beautiful piece.
01:11:34All the pieces are wonderful.
01:11:37Next we have. Angie,
01:11:40her a yell school of public health
01:11:44student to graduate in 2023.
01:11:47Angie, one second place in the
01:11:50visual arts category with a
01:11:52submission entitled Skin Archive.
01:11:57Angel.
01:12:01Hi, nice to see you. I'm Angie.
01:12:04It's so honored to be here and
01:12:06see all the wonderful arts.
01:12:09So today I want to share is my photo
01:12:13series is called Skin Archive so
01:12:15the Skin Archive is a three trial
01:12:18photo series that depicts my body
01:12:21dress in the projections of my past,
01:12:25Bruce scars and markers of mental illness.
01:12:29I focus on the process of code.
01:12:32This thing with my past trauma
01:12:34flashback and to further validate
01:12:37and confront those experience.
01:12:39I will also like to encourage.
01:12:41We all have the courage to be brave and
01:12:44to fight back and to create our new life.
01:12:47So this work was created.
01:12:49I think almost two years ago or a year
01:12:53and a half like when the COVID just
01:12:56become and I was in a pretty serious
01:13:00depression situation but hopefully.
01:13:02With my friends and my family,
01:13:04I was able to to work through that and have
01:13:08a pretty healthy mental status right now.
01:13:14Thank you all.
01:13:29Thank you for sharing that importance,
01:13:33background and important piece.
01:13:35I think we can all relate and we
01:13:39really appreciate your courage
01:13:41and sharing that. Thank you.
01:13:45Aaron Phillips is a Yale physician online
01:13:48program student who already presented
01:13:50a piece of art, graduating 2023.
01:13:52Aaron won second place in the
01:13:55poetry section of the contest,
01:13:57with Loving with long COVID Aaron.
01:14:02Thank you, I wrote this poem about
01:14:05my boyfriend who has been disabled
01:14:07from long COVID for a little over
01:14:10two years now and we've been really
01:14:12fighting to figure out how to manage it.
01:14:15And I know probably a lot of
01:14:17people at this point.
01:14:18Have someone near and dear to
01:14:19them that has battled with the
01:14:21long lasting effects of COVID.
01:14:23So this is a poem,
01:14:25coincidentally the longest poem I've
01:14:28ever written about waking up one morning.
01:14:31I pulled the covers over my bare shoulder.
01:14:34A light glow enters the room,
01:14:36telling me another battle begins.
01:14:37You roll over and hug me tight
01:14:39embracing me for what's to come I
01:14:42feel a tug at the foot of my bed.
01:14:43If it were death,
01:14:44it isn't dead but ferocious and
01:14:47its sadistic mindset of keeping
01:14:48its victims alive enough to wish
01:14:50it were the double instead.
01:14:51It starts at the base of your left foot.
01:14:54And travels to your thigh,
01:14:55grabs onto the muscles you ache to use
01:14:57to climb mountains like you once did.
01:15:00Even if they work today,
01:15:01you've been conditioned to refuse.
01:15:03I feel the shakes begin to start.
01:15:05A stiffness touches the back of my leg.
01:15:07I pretended to address your
01:15:09morning excitement,
01:15:10ready to spread me open and fill me up.
01:15:13Maybe your arm will move across
01:15:14my mouth to keep me from waking
01:15:16the birds still sleeping,
01:15:17then the tree outside my window.
01:15:19But the fantasy fades as the twitches begin.
01:15:22I remember that morning visitor
01:15:23doesn't want a menage a tois.
01:15:25It wants to cripple your neuromuscular
01:15:27system to prevent you from even
01:15:28thinking about touching me,
01:15:29let alone making me submit to
01:15:31your morning rush of testosterone.
01:15:33I feel it travel to your spine where
01:15:35it begins the process of deciding the
01:15:37path of destruction it will take today,
01:15:39like an E sider deciding the best way
01:15:42to distract to travel to the West
01:15:44side of Los Angeles should it take
01:15:46the 101 S to irritate the sciatica
01:15:48that you've developed as of late.
01:15:50Or numb the nerve endings on
01:15:51the back of your leg.
01:15:52Paresthesia is causing you to dissociate.
01:15:55Stop by the 1:10 to cause
01:15:57spasms in your lower back.
01:15:59Then take the 10 through your chest
01:16:01while turning up the base to its
01:16:03favorite song causing chest pain
01:16:04and palpitations all day long.
01:16:06Or maybe it will take the 101 N through
01:16:08the belly of the valley beeping at
01:16:10billboards for nausea and fatigue,
01:16:12prompting you to roll over
01:16:14to prolong your ***.
01:16:15Then jump on the 405 so it can
01:16:17spread through your lymph painting.
01:16:18Your armpits and trick you into
01:16:20thinking that you are sick.
01:16:21When it reaches your head and
01:16:22makes home in your skull,
01:16:24it lives like rich Brentwood, moms,
01:16:25hippies on bad trips in Venice,
01:16:27and morning marine layers over Malibu,
01:16:30headaches that ibuprofen won't cure.
01:16:32Hallucinations of the daunting
01:16:34future brain fog covering coastal
01:16:36mountains of working memory reminding
01:16:37us there's a reason we don't
01:16:39live there. I wait until you wake,
01:16:41we wait until this passes the two years
01:16:43with no answers depresses our chances.
01:16:46We keep our hopes high that it will
01:16:48end on its own, but until then we
01:16:50wait for doctors and insurances.
01:16:52To open their eyes to see that
01:16:54millions are still struggling without
01:16:56proper testing without a diagnosis
01:16:58without any real answer for a cure.
01:17:00We live so we will curl up in bed and
01:17:03wait for long COVID to cripple the world.
01:17:05Thank you.
01:17:10Thank you Aaron.
01:17:12That's an important story and
01:17:15we really appreciate that.
01:17:17Thank you, that was great.
01:17:21Contest winners that were not able
01:17:23to join us include Kyuri Satyam,
01:17:25a Yale School of Medicine student who
01:17:28graduated 2023 who won third place in
01:17:32the art section of the contest with.
01:17:36Her submission behind the scenes,
01:17:38the art of science.
01:17:48I think we're going to put that up.
01:17:49Yeah, there we go. Thanks, Karen.
01:17:53Carrie wrote the beyond behind
01:17:54the scenes the art of science,
01:17:57and she wanted me to read what was in
01:18:00her mind when she created this piece.
01:18:04There is an inherent beauty
01:18:05that lies in the research we do.
01:18:08Seeking the answers to questions yet unknown.
01:18:12This photo series aims to embody,
01:18:15through the lens of scientists,
01:18:17the art of research.
01:18:20Each carefully measured drop of reagent.
01:18:24A painstakingly maintained colony of cells.
01:18:28Specialized equipment
01:18:29wearing in the background.
01:18:33Yet in this beauty, there exists a
01:18:36quiet solitude in this community.
01:18:39We spent countless hours
01:18:41in the lab day and night.
01:18:45The world sees the breakthroughs,
01:18:47but they do not see the
01:18:50sacrifices behind the scenes.
01:18:57Karen, I think there's more
01:18:58than I think are there.
01:18:59Is this the only there we go?
01:19:32Thank you. It was wonderful. It's OK, Yuri.
01:19:38The last two are not able
01:19:40to be with us either.
01:19:42Nadie delicio a Yale School of
01:19:44Medicine student who graduate in 2023.
01:19:47One honorable mention in the
01:19:49poetry category of the contest
01:19:52with a poem entitled Recompense.
01:19:56Jeremy Mills from the Yale School
01:19:58of Nursing to graduate in 2024,
01:20:00one third place in the pros
01:20:03category with a poem of writing
01:20:05a piece entitled The Successors
01:20:07and we congratulate them as well.
01:20:13Thank you everyone for your
01:20:17submissions and for your participation.
01:20:20Narrative medicine enriches and enhances
01:20:22our experience as healers in a challenging
01:20:25world at a really challenging time,
01:20:28and I'm ever grateful to immerse
01:20:30myself and share the words of these
01:20:32talented health profession students
01:20:34as they navigate their training.
01:20:36Although we had a list of winners,
01:20:38each of the submissions we received is
01:20:40a winner, and we encourage our community
01:20:42to keep writing, keep producing art,
01:20:45keep feeling through the all the joys,
01:20:49sadness, frustration.
01:20:51And elation, that is life.
01:20:55Thank you everyone for your participation.
01:20:58I extend thanks to our ASL translators
01:21:02Jai and Cheryl and to Karen Cole,
01:21:05who, without whom this contest
01:21:08would never have occurred.
01:21:10Thank you, Anna Reisman,
01:21:11for allowing me to stand in for
01:21:14you this season, and to Sam,
01:21:16our technician,
01:21:17and mostly thank you to all of our wonderful.
01:21:21Participants for your submissions and for
01:21:25contributing so richly to our community.
01:21:29Thanks.