Winners Excerpts & Reflections
When you see a patient in your clinic, treat them as if they are your sole focus. We learn the science of medicine from textbooks, but our most profound teachers are our patients and their families. Listening to parents is paramount. Families are the true drivers pushing for advanced, innovative treatments because they live the reality every single day. To a physician, a specific diagnosis might represent one in 10,000 rare diseases; to that family, it represents 100 percent of their entire world.
- Sara's excerpt from winning essay.
Doctors in the age of AI need to be shaped by two educations. They must understand how algorithms operate, how they fail, and the instances of how to use them responsibly. The doctor must also study philosophy and literature, in order to train phronesis. No medical school that produces AI-fluent doctors that are also illiterate in their practical wisdom has succeeded, rather they have ultimately failed in creating a modern doctor.
AI can name diseases, but doctors must identify the suffering.
- Hassan
The laboratory work made me realize how much that way of thinking matters. We were constantly taught to observe rather than assume. Whether we were looking at cell morphology, trying to distinguish contamination from cellular debris, calculating reagent concentrations, or preparing peptides for analysis, we needed evidence before making a conclusion. That is something I can see myself carrying into forensic pathology. You cannot decide what happened based on what you expect to find. You have to look at what is actually there and let the evidence guide you.
- Abrar's excerpt from her reflection report after the lab experience
This experience also confirmed my interest in pursuing a career in medicine. I’ve always been very passionate and interested in medicine, but this program gave me the opportunity to see another important aspect of medicine. It helped me understand the importance of research for new treatments, better patient care, and the growth of our medical knowledge. The experience strengthened my passion for medicine and reassured me that this is the career I want to pursue in the future.
- Manayer's
33