Who or what have you had to let go? The idea of “getting back to normal” A carrot dangled in front of us We can never quite grasp What is normal anyway? Failing to startle at the sight of so many uncovered faces in an enclosed space? Not cringing at…

“When you reach the point that you want to leave medicine, is that when it’s called burnout?” my student asked me as we waited for the elevator to take us to our next patient on rounds. I explained burnout as a combination of exhaustion and depersonalization in much the same…

When I heard the SCOTUS decision today, my first thought was, “Why don’t women matter?” My second thought was of you. 11 years old. Too naive to understand what was happening to your body. But when you started to show, your mother knew immediately, and she brought you to the clinic. I remember you hid your face in your mother’s shirt when my resident tried to ask you questions. When it came time for the pelvic exam, you screamed and cried; so loud I can still hear you now. Your mom stroked your hair, but you couldn’t be consoled.

Hurricane screens over office windows block out the light in the COVID unit In here it feels like night until at least 9 am Fitting for a building that has housed so much death these last two years Sealed off from an outside world that desires to move on and…

Eater ran an article questioning the myth of baking as a pandemic panacea. Especially early in 2020, when many were in lockdown, baking was touted as a cure-all for the fear and anxiety of pandemic life. Anything advertised as a cure-all is almost guaranteed to cure nothing. But, we weren’t…

Brought in by EMS Suspected alcohol intoxication But I only had three drinks What’s your name? [Name redacted] Lipstick smudged Are you injured? My chest is sore No bruising Can you tell me what happened? I don’t remember What happened to me? I don’t know

I knock on the door and announce myself. “Jessica, it’s Dr. Caputo.” She beckons me in. As I push back the curtain between us, I pause in the doorway. For a moment, I am unable to move any further. Jessica sits in her ICU bed. A monitor hangs on the…

My alarm went off at 4:30 am. My dogs were already at the door awaiting their morning walk. I grabbed their leases, and we headed out. …

My mother and I don’t talk about why I don’t call home anymore. Or why I don’t visit except for on Christmas, and soon maybe I’ll stop seeing her even then. We don’t talk about the slurred words during our single phone call of 2018 when she called to tell…