The past year can be described as a long journey down a very difficult road. We traversed tremendous hills with inspiration and hard work; continued through deep valleys of grief and loss; navigated across familiar and unfamiliar fields in darkness and toward, we hope, morning light and renewal.
This second annual poetry contest of the Department of Medicine (DOM), “The Road Behind, The Road Ahead,” pays tribute to this journey by looking back at where we have been, and looking forward with optimism and openness to new and promising destinations.
We received more than 80 wonderful poems from our colleagues in the DOM community, submissions that shared their own experiences of the road we’ve traveled – both alone and together. To facilitate the presentation of poems in this 2021 publication, we have loosely organized them into themes, beginning with the 15 entries chosen as winners by a volunteer committee of DOM reviewers. We also included entries from non-DOM colleagues – not part of the contest but are nonetheless an important part of our community fabric.
We hope you enjoy the collection!
Winning titles arranged in alphabetical order:
Any Moment – Mylo Schaaf, MD, Division of General Internal Medicine & EVCP, UCSF Health
Broken Cycle – Sheyla Medina, MD, Resident, Division of General Internal Medicine, UCSF Health
Condolences – Romany Redman, MD, Fellow, Division of Hospital Medicine, UCSF Health
Doffing – What Comes Off – Andrew Kim, MD, MPhil, Resident, Division of General Internal Medicine, ZSFG
“End-Stage, Is That bad?” – Anne Rohlfing, MD, Fellow, Division of Palliative Medicine, UCSF Health
Even and Odd – Jillian Kadota, Research Data Analyst, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, & Sleep Medicine, ZSFG
Every Single One – Swati Sudarsan, Clinical Research Coordinator, Division of Hematology/Oncology, UCSF Health
If You Could Rewind – Pushwaz Virk, MD, Division of Hospital Medicine, UCSF Health
Memory Path – Nelya Veselaya, Revenue Analyst, Central Administration, ZSFG
Purblind – Leah McCann, Operations Manager, Division of Hematology/Oncology, UCSF Health
Untitled – Fernanda Young, MD, Fellow, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy, & Sleep Medicine, UCSF Health
Vast Air Between Us – Dawn Gross, MD, PhD, Division of Palliative Medicine, UCSF Health
Viruses – Justin Wing, Clinical Research Coordinator, Division of Cardiology, UCSF Health
What We Don’t Pay For – Michael Rabow, MD, Division of Palliative Medicine, UCSF Health
Wildflowers – Katie Brooks, MD, Division of Hospital Medicine, UCSF Health