Winter Workers Poetry Series
Written by Eric Dessner MD. Dr. Dessner is an ophthalmologist in private practice in Brooklyn, NY and the founder and CEO of Medmic.com.
Medmic: by healthcare workers
Not Looking Away
Kathy Ray retired in 2024 from 30 years as a PA in the fields of dermatology, cardiology and internal medicine in the Albany, New York area. Patients’ stories often inspired poetry, but it was relegated to sticky notes. Now, words get their due.
Congruity
The poem is by Mufakir Bhanain, which is a pen name for Drs. Pamela Butler and Fatima Shad (see bio below). Dr. Butler lives in New York City and Dr. Shad lives in Sydney, Australia.
Brief bio: Mufakir Bhanain is the union of two neuroscientists (Drs. Pamela Butler and Fatima Shad), who write poetry together. Mufakir means thinker and Bhanain means sister.
Spring/ Summer 2025 Haiku Contest Winner
Nimish Garg a 4th-year medical student at the USC Keck School of Medicine, planning to become an internal medicine physician. He writes poetry as a creative outlet to reflect on and navigate both the triumphs and challenges of learning the art of medicine.
Spring/Summer 2025 Poetry Contest Winner Announced
Bio: Priscilla Duran Luciano, MD, is a research fellow in cardiovascular epidemiology and an emerging poet based in New York City. Passionate about the heart in both clinical and poetic senses, she writes at the intersection of medicine, identity, love, and resilience.
Two Women
Eric v.d. Luft, Ph.D., was Curator of Historical Collections at SUNY Upstate Medical University from 1987 to 2006 and has taught at Villanova University, Syracuse University, Upstate, and the College of Saint Rose. He is the author, editor, or translator of over 690 publications in philosophy, religion, librarianship, history, history of medicine, politics, humor, popular culture, and nineteenth-century studies.
In the Presence of Shadows
Manal Imran is a medical student from Miami, FL. Her poem ‘In the Presence of Shadows’ l was inspired by an OB/GYN rotation, where the unexpected loss of a newborn contrasted with the floor’s usual joy
Still at Risk
by Maryam Tariq, MD
This poem was inspired by a clinical encounter during my Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship. What began as a routine outpatient follow-up revealed, through a single screening question, a recent suicide attempt by a teen who had appeared stable. The piece reflects on the tension between clinical progress and hidden emotional suffering, and the critical importance of asking direct questions ,even when things seem “better.”
Helix Moon Piercing
Priscilla Duran Luciano, MD, is a research fellow in cardiovascular epidemiology and an emerging poet based in New York City. Passionate about the heart in both clinical and poetic senses, she writes at the intersection of medicine, identity, love, and resilience.
Ode to an appendix
Samuel Weisenthal, PhD, MD, MS explores the humanistic implications of statistical frameworks for medical decision-making through essays, poetry, and visual art. He aims to facilitate the application of evidence to medicine in a way that is both rigorous and patient-centered.