Storytelling Contest: Learning
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Why did the Nocturnaus team choose “Learning” as the theme for their first storytelling contest?
Learning We start doing it the moment we set foot in medical school and we never really stop. But the first few years of medical training are a special time. We find ourselves in a new place, a new language, even new uniforms. Which is why we thought the theme of learning would be perfect for the Nocturnaus first ever storytelling contest, which we launched in the winter. Over the last few weeks, we received 38-story submissions from 28 institutions, 14 states, and 3 countries.
How many submissions were received and what was the selection process for the finalists?
Each submission came with an outline and an audio clip. And our team has spent the last few weeks sifting through your entries, listening to your voices, and turning over your questions, insights, and reflections in our minds. We've narrowed the list down to ten finalists and we plan to announce the winner before the end of the month. But before we do, I wanted to release this audio clip which I put together over the last few days. It's a tapestry of voices edited down from the numerous submissions that we received. And I think what struck me the most while listening was that these common themes kept coming up again and again. I won't go on more than that, I'll just roll the clip and hope that you enjoy listening.
But I hope you'll keep an ear out for the winner which we hope to announce soon. And I want to give a heartfelt thank you to everybody who took a risk and threw their hat in the ring.
What emotions and challenges do medical students describe on their first inpatient rotation?
It's my first day on inpatient medicine as a medical student. For those first two weeks, I was in a perpetual state of anxiety. I had been dreading this rotation. It was like some secret language of doctors speak, and I was learning my first words. Decompensation, labile, social work referral. Ephebrile, dysneic, profusely diaphoretic. But I just remember thinking Really, I am not supposed to be here. Our parents wanted us to be one of three acceptable professions. A doctor. An engineer. Or a doctor. Professional attire, semi-clean white coat stuffed with pens and papers. A coat that for some reason just doesn't seem to fit. Ready to see patients and get pimped.
How do students react to the “pimping” culture and high‑pressure moments in the ER?
And then the pimping began. Med student, he said, as if this was my name. My heart stopped and the fear took over, and I just started word vomiting. I think that doctors sometimes forget that students watch everything that they do. And what more could I do with our inability to cure her from her pain?
What do we do when we're left in this uncomfortable space where there are no answers? What is real
anyways? And who
decides?
There is a patient in the emergency room breathing fast. Yes, exactly, that's good. They need to breathe. That's exactly right. And he said no. You breed. And the attending is frantically signaling for one of the residents to find an intubation kit.
What insights emerge about uncertainty, patient care, and the limits of medical knowledge?
Try again, he commanded as he pressed a retractor into my palm. I love people. I love science, I want to save the world, and I definitely did not want to cut anybody.
With the first cut of that knife, she winced. The scalpel sliced skin, then fat, then fascia, mucosa. Let me tell you that damn door. That damn waiting room door every single time it opens, everyone All their heads pop up. To me it looks like everyone is just doing their best to keep things together for their patients, their families, their own sanity. Because the truth is there never was a pinnacle.
When and how will the contest winner be announced, and what can listeners expect next?
It was always a moving target. I wanted to splay the ending open like a frog. But in these moments, deep down, we all know that the only way out is through. In this experience, I challenged myself not to Not to
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why did the Nocturnaus team choose “Learning” as the theme for their first storytelling contest?
0:02–0:36
2
How many submissions were received and what was the selection process for the finalists?
0:36–1:41
3
What emotions and challenges do medical students describe on their first inpatient rotation?
1:41–2:26
4
How do students react to the “pimping” culture and high‑pressure moments in the ER?
2:26–3:02
5
What insights emerge about uncertainty, patient care, and the limits of medical knowledge?
3:02–3:37
6
When and how will the contest winner be announced, and what can listeners expect next?
3:37–3:53