Welcome to the Medical Student Perspective Page!

Articles featured on this page are submitted by ACC medical student members around the globe covering topics ranging from personal experiences, patient encounters, mentorship, entrepreneurship, advocacy and more.

Sibi Krishna Thiyagarajan

Empowering Intersectionality in the Field of Medicine

October 1, 2021   |   Sibi Krishna Thiyagarajan

Feature Article

We all might be divided by race, creed, caste, religion, and many other factors. However, what ultimately remains is that we are all humans. In accordance with the Declaration of Geneva, which was adopted by the World Medical Association at its second General Assembly in 19481, we as physicians should not discriminate against any patients who come to us for treatment based on any bias. I believe the same must be practiced among ourselves, as physicians, too.

Mario Alvarez Nava, MS

Cardiology: Finding Purpose During a Global Pandemic

October 1, 2021   |   Mario Alvarez Nava, III

Feature Article

When the global COVID-19 pandemic began, the life of every person in the world changed. In my case, as a third-year medical student, it meant a stop in attending to the hospital and learning through direct contact with patients, and a stop in seeing my friends, family and teachers.

Rachel D. Check, BS

A Certain Cardiologist

October 1, 2021   |   Rachel Check, BS

Feature Article

Many physicians have influenced my journey in medicine thus far. But amid completing my residency applications, I feel a great sense of gratitude for a certain cardiologist: John Cantwell, MD, FACC. From being his medical assistant to rotating with him as a medical student, my experiences with Dr. Cantwell have inspired me to choose a field that will satisfy my thirst for knowledge and my desire to form strong patient relationships – just as cardiology has done for him.

Sebahat Ulusan

How to Get Involved in Research Activities as a Medical Student

August 5, 2021   |   Sebahat Ulusan

Feature Article

At the beginning of my first year of medical school, I didn't yet comprehend the importance of research activities. However, during my second semester, Medical Education Department Assistant Professor Giray Kolcu, MD, offered me a place to attend an international congress.

Ailing Health Care Systems: My Ghanaian Experience

June 22, 2021   |   Andrew Awuah Wireko

Feature Article

Currently, there is a need for Ghana and many other African countries to fix their ailing and overwhelmed health care sectors. The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care systems across the globe and the international social and economic order has taught the world a great lesson.

From Patient to Provider

June 22, 2021   |   Tess Calcagno, PharmD

Feature Article

"Transitional AV canal, status post-surgical repair in 2003. Now with residual cleft in the left atrioventricular valve with moderate regurgitation."

Som Prabh Singh

Student-Run Free Health Clinics: Mobilizing Care to Address Health Disparities

May 10, 2021   |   Som Singh, BA

Feature Article

Student-run free clinics are sponsored, not-for-profit forms of community-level outpatient care. Student volunteers are involved in nearly all aspects of clinic operations while under the supervision of volunteer doctors, pharmacists and other health care professionals. In addition, literature supports the general attitude among student volunteers is that volunteering at these clinics improves their clinical skills holistically.

Christian Faaborg-Andersen, BS

A Global Pandemic: When the Learner, Provider and Patient Became One

April 2, 2021   |   Christian Faaborg-Andersen, BS

Feature Article

Like a kid on the first day of school, I arose from bed at around 4:45 a.m. on Monday, March 2, 2020 with butterflies in my stomach. The clerkship year had at long last arrived. I donned my surgical scrubs and brushed my teeth as the moon stood high and the crickets chirped outside my window. The world was quiet. Then came the cold sweat down my neck and my face felt hot. At that moment, I knew there was an infection blooming inside my lungs.

Zoilo Karim Suarez Yeb

The Silent Bias: Risks of Not Following Clinical Guidelines in Developing Countries

April 2, 2021   |   Zoilo Karim Suarez Yeb, MD

Feature Article

There are several factors that are essential for personal development, but what are they? I am a firm believer that introspection is an important key to growth. After traveling to the U.S. from the island nation of the Dominican Republic to do a sub-internship, my interactions with residents, fellows and attendings have given me a new perspective on how medicine should ideally be practiced and has made me reflect on the issues that are silently affecting thousands of lives within my "Quisqueya La Bella" (Dominican Republic).

Fariha R. Hameed, BS

The Impact of a Mentor

February 5, 2021   |   Fariha Hameed, BS

Feature Article

A field as vast as medicine can be challenging to navigate for a budding medical student. As someone who has benefitted from having an exceptional mentor, I understand the impact mentorship can have on a medical student’s future trajectory.

Mariana L. Henry, MPH

“Chemo Kills As It Cures” – The Role of Cardio-Oncology

February 5, 2021   |   Mariana L Henry, MPH

Feature Article

While shadowing at the hospital one Monday morning, I met Anna*. Anna was 17 years old. She loved swimming, cheerleading and horseback riding. Unfortunately, Anna had to put these activities on hold. She had osteosarcoma, and her health had recently taken a turn for the worse.

Eric J. Topol, MD

Interview With Eric J. Topol, MD

January 20, 2021

Feature Interview

Eric J. Topol, MD, is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, professor of Molecular Medicine, and executive vice president of Scripps Research.

Dan Tran

Comforting the Heart That Hopes

January 15, 2021   |   Dan B Tran, BS

Feature Article

Eight years after my sister’s remarkable recovery from surgery that cured her rare congenital heart defect and kindled my fascination for becoming a cardiologist, I felt excitement and humility on the first day of my cardiology rotation as a third-year medical student.

Mindfulness, Medicine and Me

December 1, 2020   |   Andrew C Elton, BS

Feature Article

It is the anatomy final in my first year of medical school; I move quickly through the lab trying to identify the semblances of human structures laying on the stainless-steel dissection tables.

Interview With Neil J. Weissman, MD, FACC

November 6, 2020

Feature Interview

Neil J. Weissman, MD, FACC, is the chief scientific officer for MedStar Health and president of MedStar Health Research Institute.

JACC

Majority of CVD Program Directors Feel Diversity Needs to Increase, Many Not Sure How

September 9, 2020

JACC Family of Journals

Diversity is important to cardiovascular disease (CVD) programs directors (PDs) and PDs are striving to increase diversity in their programs through recruitment and strategies directed toward the fellowship learning environment, according to results of the second annual Cardiovascular PDs Survey published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Debabrata Mukherjee

Interview With Debabrata Mukherjee, MD, MS, FACC

July 30, 2020

Feature Interview

Debabrata Mukherjee, MD, MS, FACC, is the chair of the department of internal medicine and chief of cardiovascular medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.