Title: The Cycle of Life

This piece was inspired by recent experiences over the last few years including isolation by Covid, family growth and loss, and the need for connection. We all have these moments and even though they may be different for each of us, they are what connects us as a shared experience through our own cycle of life.

LISA SHAH-PATEL, MD, is the Director of Career and Professional Advising at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, warm days at the beach, skiing with her two girls, and traveling.

From the very first moment in life, You must breathe and rest to grow

From the very first moment in life, You must eat and sleep to grow

From the very first moment in life, You must have human touch and warmth to grow.

These basics all become tangled in a web as life takes us on our journey

Our journey leads us through rushing and wrestling

Our journey leads us through beauty and sorrow

Our journey leads us through connection and isolation

From the last days of our life,

We seek the calmness of breath and the solitude of silence

From the last days of our life,

We halt our nourishment and curl up as a ball

From the last days of our life,

We embrace the warmth of one another and hold onto the deepest of memories.

Title: Ashes to Ashes

Life must one day come to an end. Yet in death, there is life. As the phrase goes, "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust." In honoring the lives of those who have donated their bodies for our learning, we acknowledge that with their death brings about a new generation of physicians who will hold in high regard this life cycle, and dedicate our own lives to protecting the integrity of others' - in birth, and in death.

In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, where nearly all of our learning is virtual, we must adapt. Through the mental and spiritual resilience we find ways to admire the resilience of the human body, and appreciate the harmony in the new opportunities that arise from this period of adversity. Without the life cycle, without our gracious donors and their families, these opportunities would not exist, and we are forever grateful to them. In death, there is life. In life, there is hope. "Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.

Isabel Strouse is a student in the Class of 2024 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.