BUT WHO WILL HEAL US? | Karina Smiley

“One half of medical students suffer from anxiety, one third battle with depression, and medical students are overall three times more likely to die by suicide. We are taught to learn from the adversity and grow as the result of the challenges we face, but I wonder, what is stolen from us in the process? Mental health readily attracts blame, and for that reason it is often repressed and ignored by physicians. In a profession built on the foundation of healing patients, how are we meant to help others when we are not whole ourselves? I compiled quotes from medical students regarding how they view their mental health during their training. We will no longer let mental health be swept under the rug.”

Karina Smiley is a third-year medical student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She has always loved art and became interested in using painting as a means to portray the psychological toll medical education and training has on students.

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