The first day of my Internal Medicine rotation was also my last. The anxiety and uncertainty I felt walking out of the hospital that day has only grown and deepened over time. We have been inside for weeks, with no end in sight, flooded by news reports and personal stories of suffering and pain.
As medical students, we are expected to be productive and to use our time wisely. Like many others, I am caught between my desire to grow as a physician-in-training and my difficulty adjusting to this new normal. I want to build my knowledge, exploring medicine with a renewed vigor and depth, so that I can be ready to return to the clinical world. But I think it is essential to take a step back while we are at home, to breathe and find ways to reconnect with the parts of ourselves that we hide away.
I have been creating art and music to cope with these uncertain times, and I encourage others to also do what they love, in the hopes that it brings them some peace.
Alia McKean, MPH
Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine