VCU news

By Anne Dreyfuss
C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research

Third-year Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine student Robin Kuriakose often writes in his journal to deal with the stress of medical school.

“I am by no means a great writer, but I have observed the therapeutic effect that writing has on me,” he said.

Last October, Kuriakose co-founded the blog WhiteCoated as a place to house his and other medical students’ inspirations, stories and thoughts. Today the site has more than 25 posts by medical students around the country with journal entry-style writings about everything from orientation week to emergency department rotations.

“The purpose of the site is to encourage self-reflection in the midst of ever-increasing medical school demands,” Kuriakose said.

The 24-year-old started the site with fellow VCU undergraduate alumnus Basil Mathews, now a third-year medical student at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. The two met as freshmen in the VCU Honors College guaranteed admissions program for medical school students at VCU and they lived together sophomore through senior years.

“Basil and I have always enjoyed creating new things,” Kuriakose said. “This website gives us a platform upon which to recognize and encourage humanism in medicine.”

The WordPress site has 15 editors across nine medical schools. Posts range from personal essays and short stories to photos and poetry. When posts are submitted to the site, they are first vetted by Kuriakose and Mathews, and then sent to an editor before being uploaded to the site.

One of Kuriakose’s favorite posts is a short story called “Fatigue, a love story,” in which a student from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine describes both the exhaustion she feels from the demands of medical school and the reasons why the fatigue is worth it.

This website gives us a platform upon which to recognize and encourage humanism in medicine.

“I like that story because it is an experience I can relate to,” Kuriakose said. “Even through the exhaustion that myself and my peers feel every night from studying, we still find that inner strength. I love the profession of medicine and this story brings me back to that reality.”

Since the site launched last year, it has received more than 20,000 clicks to specific posts. The most popular post was a short video of two third-year VCU School of Medicine students asking actor Daniel Radcliffe to sign a poster made by pediatric patients at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. Radcliffe was in Richmond filming “Imperium.” The poster was later delivered to the patients with the actor’s autograph.

In another VCU medical student post, a first-year student recounted an intense emergency room shift in a personal essay. Throughout the story, the student candidly discussed his insecurities about being inexperienced and the inspiration he felt working alongside a skilled health care team. 

“The most rewarding aspect of the website is seeing how it impacts people,” Kuriakose said. “I can only hope that each time a medical student or resident reads something that is inspiring, that it is making them a better doctor.”

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