The 2023 Writing Competition

We asked the UConn Health community to respond to the following prompt:

The title of our magazine is “Anastomoses” to represent the connection we are trying to foster between the medical sciences and humanities. In exactly 55 words, creatively write about your experience making connections as a healthcare professional.

And here is what they came up with...

WINNERS

New Admission

By: Ryan Hannon Summary Statement: Patient is a 73 year-old woman with a history of hypertension presenting with a COPD exacerbation...

"Six Weeks"

By: Kelly M. Rios Enter the room, read the room, feel the room, hear the room, hold the room. A patient and a partner. A friend. A mom. A...

Link to their published pieces in Connecticut Medicine coming soon...

All Submissions:

Self-Preservation and Graft Survival

By: Maria Antony This short poem reflects on the journey of a person who has undergone a kidney transplant due to cystinosis, a rare...

Connection

By: Neil Khoury Uncontrolled inflammation. Refractory to medication. Resect the bad parts. Connect the good parts. Anastomosis. Just as...

Booster shot of humility

By: Isha Walawalkar Skipped breakfast and went vaccine canvassing. With hunger for community, I let my stomach sing. Stethoscope, wool...

Wrong Life, Right Death.

By: Ricky Paramo Medicine and humanities convene. Life and death, contrasting realms collide, Right and wrong, perspectives divide....

The Pediatrician (By a medical student)

By: Claire Surkis Sibling well checks in room 14. Four sick kiddos in room 17. Two other families waiting after that. “Med student, you...

Flowers Bloom

By: Maitreyee Kale Medicine is an uphill climb on a path littered with thorns. Sometimes it seems I am alone and barefoot. But there are...

New Admission

By: Ryan Hannon Summary Statement: Patient is a 73 year-old woman with a history of hypertension presenting with a COPD exacerbation...

The Puzzle

By: Geetha Nichanametla Dull pain persists despite the cocktail of medications. With waning hope, a piece of paper appears in sight....

Listen

By: Patrick J. Halloran “It’s just me and the dog.” I glance down and notice his wedding ring. His quiet, tired voice. His worn hands. I...

Her first nexplanon (by a medical assistant)

By: Claire Surkis The door opened and I called her name. 18 years old and she knew exactly what she needed. We talked for 20 minutes,...

Untitled

By: James Grant Boards seemed most important. Now, real patients ahead. Six weeks of psychiatry first on the schedule. The average “I am...

A Double Helix: A Physician-Scientist's Path

By: Omar Fathy In hushed lab nights, I weave through the cellular cosmos, bearing witness to life's silent orchestration. In hospital’s...

"Six Weeks"

By: Kelly M. Rios Enter the room, read the room, feel the room, hear the room, hold the room. A patient and a partner. A friend. A mom. A...

Permanence

By: Anonymous What did the retina say to the heart Hurry up darling, it’s getting too dark I’m fumbling, fading, falling apart It’s too...