Student Stories is a collaboration between The Merck Manuals and real medical and nursing students. Our team of bloggers offers insights, tips, and a glimpse into what it’s like to experience medical school today. Meet our current contributors below. If you are a current pre-med, nursing student, or a first, second, or third-year medical student and are interested in becoming one of our bloggers, please visit our Blog For Us page to learn more.
Avani
Avani Patel, MD, MHA is beginning her journey as a psychiatry resident at the University of Mississippi Medical Center with plans to pursue a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship in the future. Over the course of her medical school training, she has discovered her passion for advocacy, policy, media and marketing, and healthcare administration graduating with her Master’s in Healthcare Administration with emphasis on executive-level leadership. She has lived in Mississippi her entire life, and it has taught her true community. She also enjoys traveling, professional development activities, and serving as a leader locally and nationally. Dr. Patel currently serves on the American Medical Association Ambassador Steering Committee. Outside of school, she enjoys nurturing friendships, spending time with family, meeting new people, public speaking, organizing events, and writing. A few other noteworthy passions of hers are hiking, cars, beauty, and fashion.
175 Articles
Kimia
Kimia is currently in her first year of Obstetrics and Gynecology residency. Her interests in medicine include family planning, patient advocacy, in addition to pediatrics and adolescent gynecology. During her spare time, she enjoys trail running, hiking, and making pizza. She has previously contributed as a medical student and is excited to share her journey through residency with everyone.
128 Articles
Alex
Alex is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. As an avid lover of the intellect and interspecialty collaboration associated with medicine, she is excited to be applying for Internal Medicine residency programs. Her interest in medicine largely stems from her volunteer work in free clinics in underserved communities and experiences growing up with a brother with autism. Before attending medical school, Alex completed her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University in 2014 and her Master of Public Health (concentration in Chronic Disease Epidemiology) at Yale University in 2016. When she is not working in the hospital or studying, you can find Alex running by the lake, doing circuit workouts outdoors in the fields, drawing and/or writing, or at home spending time with her family in the suburbs of Chicago.
84 Articles
Adil
Adil Menon is a fourth-year medical student at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. Before medical school he received his Master of Bioethics degree from Harvard Medical School. His written work may be found in Hektoen International, the HMS Bioethics Journal, the Pathologist and JAMA Cardiology among other publications.
82 Articles
Max
Max is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center with an interest in Psychiatry. He received his Bachelor's in Biology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and plans to practice in his home state after graduation. He is married to Hannah Lydiatt and has two very spoiled cats, Daphne and Yule.
49 Articles
Manasi
Manasi is a final year medical student at McMaster University and has received a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honors), with a specialization in Global Health. Manasi has held numerous leadership positions such as the Student Director for the Canadian Public Health Association and was the co-chair for the Medical Genetics and the Social Justice Interest Group in medical school. She is currently the co-chair for the Students and Young Professionals Network for the Ontario Public Health Association and the McMaster chapter director for the MP-MD apprenticeship program. She was also selected to attend the Women Leaders in Global Health conference at Stanford University and has presented her research at the World Congress on Public Health, the American Public Health Association’s Annual Conference (2017) and Public Health 2017 and 2019. She is also a volunteer with Let’s Talk Science which organizes science presentations for children aged 5 – 18 years old and helped with contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her interests include pediatrics, genetics and public health. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and exploring new bike trails.
22 Articles
Luke
My name is Luke, and I’ve lived in Denver the majority of my life. I received my undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Colorado – Denver. Before medical school, I worked as an EMT on ambulances and in hospital emergency rooms. Throughout medical school, I have been involved in many extracurricular activities, such as serving as the president of our school’s pediatrics club, treasurer of our rotary club, biomedical research at the VA medical center, and volunteered at a local PICU. My goal is to one day become a pediatrician. Outside of medicine, I enjoy playing basketball, snowboarding, and spending time with my family.
3 Articles
