Elijah Abass

1 month ago | opmed.doximity.com | Stephanie E. Moss |Elijah Abass |Najya Williams |Lynne Lederman

As a psychiatry resident, I was drawn to this field for a simple reason: We take the time to listen. In a medical system that often prioritizes lab values over lived experience, psychiatry dares to sit with patients and say, “I believe you.”But before I put on my Patagonia with an embroidered “MD,” I was a patient asking for someone to listen to my health concerns.

1 month ago | opmed.doximity.com | Najya Williams |Elijah Abass |Stephanie E. Moss |Lynne Lederman

When I first started medical school, I had no idea how I’d get through it. The first two years were intensely difficult, with the newly overwhelming workload, countless exams, and the far-sighted goal of actually talking to patients. I still remember my biochemistry block, where we learned about the process of glycogen storage and energy metabolism on a cellular level.

1 month ago | opmed.doximity.com | Elijah Abass |Najya Williams |Stephanie E. Moss |Lynne Lederman

“Hey man, I’m proud of you.” I stood next to Tony’s hospital bed, his room bathed in harsh fluorescent lighting and covered in drab ’90’s wallpaper. His words, which he said after I wrapped up my disjointed cranial nerve exam, caught me off guard. I was one month into my internal medicine rotation, the first of my third year, still learning how to present to attendings, perform physical exams, and navigate the hospital’s indecipherable EMR. Everything was new and difficult.