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August 24, 2026
2026
Ravenna Raven
peace in phase

This nursing student reflected on the next chapter of her life as she neared the completion of her education. When I asked if she had any time for herself currently, she said, "Absolutely not."

July 31, 2026
2026
Ravenna Raven
Grey Matter

He was a third year Neurology Resident whose passion was palpable as he shared that he had only fallen more in love with medicine over the past three years. Decision-making was a difficult part of his role, often in the grey. 

September 30, 2021
2021
Yvette Perry
Re-set

"I grew from the experience – though I think it aged me 10 years!" This is how a resident described a turning point with a specific patient when he recognized how burned out he was.

August 24, 2021
2021
Elle Klassen
Words of Silver

Although he had been through many stressful experiences in his life and recently, he always held onto his positive outlook. He took particular care to use words intentionally, paying attention to their connotations, so that his positivity extended to those that he interacted with as well.

February 4, 2021
2019
Ravenna Raven
In the Cath Lab

“I’ve always loved hearts,” she said. She was a cardiac nurse who had been drawn to a job in the catheterization laboratory. “It’s so rare to have an opportunity to immediately do something good for somebody, but it happens often in the cath lab,” she told me.

Jenny Hegland
January 29, 2023
2023

New Year’s Evolution

Jenny Hegland
January 29, 2023
2023

“I'm continuously questioning: did I do it right?" she said. "I’ve always done a good amount of second-guessing, but I’m re-learning how to show up differently.”

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Jenny Hegland, poem, American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Care (AAHPM)

Jenny Hegland
December 30, 2022

Wrapped

Jenny Hegland
December 30, 2022

“It’s weird,” she said. “This is one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, but it doesn’t feel like it.”

Tagged: Jenny Hegland, Veterans Affairs Health Care Talent Academy (HCTA), Medical Students

Yvette Perry
December 2, 2022
2022

Libation

Yvette Perry
December 2, 2022
2022

"It changed me; It changed the way I look at life," said this woman about her profound experience during her pregnancy.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Yvette Perry, Health4Equity

Ravenna Raven
October 26, 2022
2022

Our Own Legacy

Ravenna Raven
October 26, 2022
2022

“I’m not in a good place with everything happening in the world,” this poemee said.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Ravenna Raven, Department of Health and Social Welfare

Jenny Hegland
September 30, 2022
2022

An Impossible Choice

Jenny Hegland
September 30, 2022
2022

“It’s been more challenging than normal lately,” she said. “I’m only one person. It's a struggle for me to say no, but I can’t do everything that’s being asked of me right now.”

Tagged: Jenny Hegland, Healthcare Staff, Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System

Mindy Shah
July 23, 2022
2022

Forward

Mindy Shah
July 23, 2022
2022

"I've been processing how to make the most of the small amount of life we have to live," said this physician.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Yvette Perry

Yvette Perry
June 30, 2022
2022

Recursion

Yvette Perry
June 30, 2022
2022

"I've been processing how to make the most of the small amount of life we have to live," said this physician.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Yvette Perry

Jenny Hegland
April 27, 2022
2021

Who's Noticing?

Jenny Hegland
April 27, 2022
2021

Spending time with his grandfather before he died left him pondering big questions like, “what is a sense of self?”

Tagged: Jenny Hegland, Healthcare Staff, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Elle Klassen
March 31, 2022
2022

Feeling Small

Elle Klassen
March 31, 2022
2022

“I like feeling small,” he told me. “Nature has always made me feel small.” He described the sense of wonder that feeling gave him.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Elle Klassen, Cambia

Yvette Perry
February 28, 2022
2021

To My Daughters, Who Will Need to Know

Yvette Perry
February 28, 2022
2021

This physician had recently started a new job when the pandemic hit.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Association of American Medical Colleges, Yvette Perry, AAMC

Elle Klassen
January 27, 2022
2021

Decision Fatigue

Elle Klassen
January 27, 2022
2021

“I feel like I have decision fatigue,” she told me. It was normal for her to make many choices at work, but COVID had dramatically increased the number of medical decisions she had to make at home.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Association of American Medical Colleges, Elle Klassen, AAMC

Frankie Abralind
January 14, 2022
2020

Vibes

Frankie Abralind
January 14, 2022
2020

“I know ‘vibe’ is kind of a nonspecific term, but I think about people’s vibes all the time,” he said.“ Sometimes you come into a room and it’s just off.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Frankie Abralind

Yvette Perry
November 23, 2021
2021

Yosef the Builder

Yvette Perry
November 23, 2021
2021

This physician discussed being the only one in his practice network with expertise in patients with a specific type of chronic pain.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Yvette Perry, Association of American Medical Colleges, AAMC

Ravenna Raven
October 29, 2021
2021

So Much More to Medicine

Ravenna Raven
October 29, 2021
2021

“Our constituents are uniquely affected by the pandemic,” they said. This poemee was an educational psychologist who spoke about how much they missed working in person with med students, healthcare staff, and medical educators.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Ravenna Raven, Connection, AAMC

Yvette Perry
September 30, 2021
2021

Re-set

Yvette Perry
September 30, 2021
2021

"I grew from the experience – though I think it aged me 10 years!" This is how a resident described a turning point with a specific patient when he recognized how burned out he was.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Yvette Perry, Association of American Medical Colleges, AAMC

Elle Klassen
August 24, 2021
2021

Words of Silver

Elle Klassen
August 24, 2021
2021

Although he had been through many stressful experiences in his life and recently, he always held onto his positive outlook. He took particular care to use words intentionally, paying attention to their connotations, so that his positivity extended to those that he interacted with as well.

Tagged: Elle Klassen, Healthcare Staff, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Jenny Hegland
June 29, 2021
2021

A Kind Reminder

Jenny Hegland
June 29, 2021
2021

“There’s a constant feeling inside that I should be doing more,” she said. “But I also want to be kind to myself and recognize all that I’ve given.”

Tagged: Jenny Hegland, Healthcare Staff, Association of American Medical Colleges, AAMC

Ravenna Raven
May 15, 2021
2021

Endless Currents

Ravenna Raven
May 15, 2021
2021

These members of the Wellness team in the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado each spoke about the importance of community and connection.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Ravenna Raven, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Katherine Gekker
May 11, 2021
2020

Stayin' Alive, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Katherine Gekker
May 11, 2021
2020

She said she wanted a poem about the importance of CPR. As both a nurse and a CPR instructor, she spoke about how the rhythms of certain familiar songs helped her students internalize the rate of compression required.

Tagged: Katherine Gekker, Healthcare Staff, Inova Schar Cancer Institute

Elizabeth Pringle
April 30, 2021
2021

Caregiver, Care For Yourself

Elizabeth Pringle
April 30, 2021
2021

He brought the tools of mindfulness and self-care to medical students, many of whom had been studying all this past year, 10 hours a day, day after day, in isolation.

Tagged: Healthcare Staff, Elizabeth Pringle, Association of American Medical Colleges, AAMC

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Photos courtesy of Jeff Krentel Photography, Deborah Raven, A Byrdseye Photo, and Brendan Bush for The Mayo Clinic.

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