My Writing

"Medicine is an avenue for humility more than anything. The privilege is not just in treating disease. It is in seeing, hearing, and respecting people at their most vulnerable."

In this brief review article, we explore the connections between hypertension, a well-studied disease, and the lymphatic system, a historically understudied system. We speculate on points of relation and the potential impact of lymphatic-focused hypertension treatments.

A system is only as strong as the sum of its parts. In the human body, organs work in delicate coordination, each fulfilling a role without which life cannot be sustained. In medicine, the same is true.

Art and healthcare intersect to foster human experience, empathy, and connection. While art history and medicine may seem unrelated, combining these fields allow a powerful way to explore the emotional aspects of care. Welcome to the Blanton Museum of Art.

My perspective on leadership in healthcare, based on interviews conducted with three healthcare professionals

Researchers explore how a smoking cessation drug combined with estradiol could be used to treat Parkinson’s disease in women

Movies and medicine might seem like an unlikely pairing at first glance, but at Texas A&M College of Medicine, there’s a course that brings these two worlds together. Intrigued by the concept, I sat down with Dr. Brown to learn more about his inspiration for the course, his innovative approach to teaching, and his own passion for film.

The process of physically crafting something with their own hands allowed them to regain a sense of agency. While they might not be able to control everything happening around them, they could choose how to represent their fears and, symbolically, how to face them

As she now works on her
second book in the series, Caged Magic, while also beginning medical school, I chatted with Raluca to learn more about the inspiration for her books, her passion for medicine, and how she manages to make time for it all.

For this issue, I spoke with Seth and Brendan about how their paths and shared interests converged to spearhead an idea for a new organization, Aggie Doc Musicians: Rhythms and Remedies. They hope this organization will transcend the boundaries of career stages and educational disciplines to include students, faculty, staff, and other professionals from all fields of healthcare.

The theme of The Synapse’s February issue, “Straight from the Heart,” focuses on the heart’s role both as a vital physical organ and as a symbol of human emotion and connection. Michelle Sanchir, M3, runs the Instagram account @misanchir_draws, where she posts her medicine-inspired drawings, including some of the heart. Her artwork is a fitting example of how physical anatomy can represent or even inspire
aspects of the human experience,

CPR has always been close to my heart (pun intended!) ever since I got involved with teaching Hands-Only CPR at my high school.

As she wraps up her time with The Synapse, I chatted with Ksenia to
learn more about the inspiration for her art, her passion for medicine, her experiences in leadership, and how she manages to make time for it all.

The oral medication allows new mothers to be treated and recover at home

For the October issue’s theme of rest, relaxation, and the activities we engage in to take a break from the stresses of life and medicine, I interviewed Dr. Evan George, TAMSOM EnMed Class of 2023, to learn more about how he maintains a balance between medicine and art and brings the two together.

The artist will always be remembered on campus for their handiwork with a can of red spray paint, and this graffiti felt like parting words from a place that had an incredible impact on my life, and that I was genuinely sad to leave it behind

The most valuable lesson in empathy I have learned in my medical education is also one of the only pauses in my continuous dialogue: assessing for carotid bruits

Long-standing relationships between the U.S. Department of Defense and Texas A&M School of Medicine are advancing care for military-related diseases

During the pandemic, one of the only opportunities for us to see other people outside of our homes was on our daily walks around the community, waving to each other from
a distance and enjoying one another’s company from afar. In June 2020, our community sent out a flier encouraging everyone to contribute to a rock garden in an effort to bring people together even when we were apart.

The defense department grant will allow researchers to further develop a potential treatment to target the short- and long-term effects of traumatic brain injury

Medical students register voters and help others request absentee ballots

What to know about this common condition affecting one in seven women

Neuroscientist encourages new moms and those around them to be aware of the symptoms and seek treatment if needed

What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 ESV

Yesterday, as I spent some time outside picking herbs for our dinner, I realized that I have learned quite a lot about life during social distancing and self-quarantine from something as simple as gardening.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul writes that as believers, we should “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

I saw a social media post the other day that read in bold letters: “Don’t forget that you can still get ‘regular’ sick during a pandemic.”

Spending a lot of time at home means that I have a lot more time to do things that I would usually be too busy to do otherwise, like reading! I wanted to share a few books that I’ve read both during shelter-in-place and in the past few years that have really stuck with me and encouraged me in my walk with God.

COVID-19 has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States, and the pandemic has impacted many facets of our daily lives with the implementation of social distancing guidelines and widespread shifts to virtual education and work.

However, the spread of coronavirus has also affected social aspects that easily go unseen, such as crime, homelessness, job insecurity, and family instability. Of these social consequences, one that is rapidly rising to the forefront is the crime of human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking.

America celebrated its liberation 244 years ago, and we’re still writing the story of freedom to this day. In the midst of a movement that is calling for increased awareness and transformative action to combat racial injustice and systemic corruption, it is clear that there is still a lot of work to be done.

Coronavirus has rapidly become an ever-present invisible force in our lives that has swept across the entire world, and despite being sequestered away from one another in our own home, it has pushed us together into a global solidarity that unites us all.

I thought I’d give you a little insight into how I wound up spending a semester abroad halfway around the world.