By Wendy K. McCloud

It’s all in your head
It’s not

It can’t be that bad
It is

Don’t be so dramatic
Seriously?

It’s totally normal
It can’t be

It’s just stress
Not just

There’s nothing wrong with you
YES THERE IS

Tell me everything
Will you truly listen?

I believe you
Thank God

Let’s figure this out
Finally!

Wendy McCloud, M.A., is an Instructor in Academic Affairs and Manager of the Interprofessional Education (IPE) office at UAMS.. She also teaches writing and technical communication at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Excelsior University. As a U.S. Air Force veteran and award-winning writer, Wendy has a deep passion for the written word, not just as a tool for communication, but as a powerful medium for connection, clarity, and transformation. She finds joy in crafting stories in ways that inspire, inform, and empower others.

By Asanda Bhane

“I’m sorry, we did everything in our power however we couldn’t save your daughter,” she said with a straight face and left the family to process the news. They didn’t see the part where she broke down crying uncontrollably. “Don’t get too attached to your patients,” they say. Well, I’m sorry for being a human.

By Maritza Cornejo Bean

Every time I come to Honduras to help in the medical clinic I am impressed with the land and the people. Today I have free time and walk in the neighborhood. That’s when I see HER, a nursing dog, walking, head close to the ground, searching for food. She becomes my metaphor for this country.

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In the USA Maritza Cornejo Bean is a working artist and sculptor.  She also helps the medical team in Honduras as a Spanish interpreter.  Additionally, she fits villagers with used prescription reading glasses that the team brings with them.  This year, she had fewer patients than normal, and thus had some welcome free time to walk and experience the surroundings. 

By Brandyn Young

White coats may be sacred robes. The lab hums—a quiet reverence. Each step, precisely measured, seeking truth. Pipettes and petri dishes are instruments of holy work. Data unfolds like scripture, revealing secrets now less hidden. Minds kneel in awe of discovery.

Research is a temple—clean hands, pure intent. Revelations that heal the world.

Brandyn Young is a third-year M.D./MPH student at UAMS, who wrote this work in gratitude to God for the wonder of science.

By Andrew Oh

Weekly debridement of third-degree burns. I wheel our patient into Tank A and prepare for the unsparing process of moans, jerks, and tears from an emotionless face. But never words.

I turn on the radio and Frank Sinatra fills the room.

“This is my song,” he manages to rasp.

I turn around.

He winks.

Andrew Oh is a recent graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine. He wrote this piece during a rotation he did with the Burn Surgery service.