Spotlight: In-training: Stories from tomorrow’s physicians

I believe it is appropriate that my first spotlight feature into resources from the Medicine, Arts, Humanities resource list is this one because this is where it started for me, where my interest in this varied and compelling field of medicine, arts and humanities was ignited.

In-training: Stories from Tomorrow’s Physicians (Vol1. 2016) is a collection of narratives written by medical students and edited by Ajay Major and Aleena Paul. The compilation includes essays and poems reflecting on a wide range of experiences the medical students endured during various stages of their medical training.

For me, as a non-medic, it was a window into a fascinating world that gave me an insight into how doctors think, the human struggle at the core of many medical interactions, systemic inequalities in healthcare, and the inner process an individual goes through to transition from student to doctor. For non-medics, in places it jolts and shocks the same way as Adam Kay’s popular This is Going to Hurt (2018) and it’s subsequent TV series does.

This is a valuable book for those studying medicine or considering it. The editors-in-chief, Major and Paul, state, “Our mission was simple: to create a virtual forum for medical students to record their thoughts about their lives as physicians in training” (2016).

They go on to say “Medical students craved a space for self-reflection, a space to express their innermost passions and their greatest fears about their chosen profession” (2016).

Each entry is followed up with a set of questions to help you, the reader, reflect on some of the themes or ethics raised by the author. Reflection is increasingly used as a learning tool in medical education. The General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK assert the following:

Medicine is a lifelong journey, immensely rich, scientifically complex and constantly developing. It is characterised by positive, fulfilling experiences and feedback, but also involves uncertainty and the emotional intensity of supporting colleagues and patients. 

Reflecting on these experiences is vital to personal wellbeing and development, and to improving the quality of patient care. Experiences, good and bad, have learning for the individuals involved and for the wider system. (General Medical Council).

The reflections shared by students in this collection at times reveal vulnerability, compassion, worry, stress, and fear. They express some of the contradictions and personal struggles students face when assuming the role of the doctor in the doctor-patient relationship. They are compelling and honest.

Topics are varied and cover many aspects of modern medicine. The reflections are divided into chapters as follows:

Dissection Lab
Learning Curve
Work-life Balance
From the Other Side
Systemic Afflictions
Our Patients  
Communication and Miscommunication
Burnout
Death and Dying
Global Health
Feeling Like a Physician

For me, there were many highlights in this book – my copy is filled with post it notes! From the very first entry, a poem by Lisa Moore called Hands (2013), to Navdeep Kang’s essay titled Medicine’s Hardest Lesson: People, Not Patients (2013).

And then there is Jennifer Tsai’s piece titled Breeze (2015) which opens with the following quotation which I think is somewhat pertinent in the world we find ourselves in, as I write this in 2022:

A woman once told me that babies cry at the slightest breeze because that is the greatest level of discomfort that they have yet experienced in their short lives. It is a reminder that we can persevere through life’s tribulations. That we grow from adversity. That new challenges make past trials smaller. That this, too, shall pass. (Tsai 2015).

I eluded earlier to the fact that it was this book that ignited my interest in the field of medicine, arts, and humanities. The writing in this collection is an example of how the arts, how writing for an audience, creates a connection with the human condition.

Medicine is a science, the human body is a network of systems, and illness management can follow medical pathways or surgical processes, however, the arts and humanities can be a powerful tool for articulating and translating the practice of medicine to its practitioners, to patients, and to those of us who take an interest. The realms of medicine, of life and death and all that is in between, can be reflected on, processed, cherished, and shared, all through engagement with the arts and humanities.

If you would like to explore more resources please browse the Medicine, Arts, Humanities Resource List. I have compiled a list that includes centres and associations, other resource lists, books, TV shows and films, graphic medicine, and more. The list is not exhaustive and resources are being added all the time. My hope is that you will use the list as a springboard for your own research, either as a medical professional, student, patient, or enthusiast.

You can search for keywords, you can browse by topic or filter by resource type. Check out the short tutorial here.

The list is hosted in Notion, but you do not need a Notion account to view it.

You can buy a copy of this book from our UK Shop via Bookshop.org. Link here Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

References:

Kay, Adam. This is going to hurt. Picador, 2018.

Kang, Navdeep. Medicine’s Hardest Lesson: People, Not Patients. 2013, in Major, Ajay, Paul, Aleena (eds). In-training: Stories from tomorrow’s physicians. Pager Publications, 2016.

Major, Ajay, Paul, Aleena (eds). In-training: Stories from tomorrow’s physicians. Pager Publications, 2016.

Moore, Lisa. Hands. 2013, in, Major, Ajay, Paul, Aleena (eds). In-training: Stories from tomorrow’s physicians. Pager Publications, 2016.

Tsai, Jennifer. Breeze. 2015, in Major, Ajay, Paul, Aleena (eds). In-training: Stories from tomorrow’s physicians. Pager Publications, 2016.

General Medical Council, The Reflective Practitioner – guidance for doctors and medical students, General Medical Council [online accessed 18/03/2022] https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/standards-guidance-and-curricula/guidance/reflective-practice/the-reflective-practitioner—guidance-for-doctors-and-medical-students