Letter From the Editors

This has been an absolutely amazing semester for DukeMed Voices. Thank you to everyone who contributed and submitted to this issue. We could not have done it without your support and hard work. This is especially true of the associate editors, whose edits and hardwork make this publication possible. What an amazing team!

In this issue, we have a wide range of literary narratives and artistic poems that balance the life outside of medicine and the very real realities within. In “Our Love was Made for Skype Screens,” James Tian (pg. 4) and his girlfriend, Amy Trey, capture the longings of long-distance relationships. Their poem is placed in stark contrast to Rayan Kaakati’s (pg. 4-5) unflinching description of a patient’s decisions in the face of breast cancer, reminding us of the reasons behind our sacrifices as medical professionals. Whether we are surgeons deciding deftly where to cut (pg. 6), or internists skillfully managing patients with metastatic cancer (pg. 14-15), we have an obligation to our patients as medical personnel. It is hard as medical students to sometimes stand on the sidelines while medicine is practiced, but before long, we too will be care providers with full responsibility for our own patients. Whether those we care for are children (pg. 8-9) or our own grandmother (pg. 7), our responsibility to our patients is unwaveringly clear.

As we leave you to explore the rest of the issue, we want to thank you again for your support, and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we did working to put it together. And as always, if you have any interest in writing for or joining Voices, please let us know at dukemedvoices@gmail.com.

Your co-Editors-in-Chiefs,

Rui Dai, MD/PhD student
Anna Brown, MS4