39 Reflections Sandra L. Bertman, Ph.D. Editor’s Note: One might title this column “By indirections find directions out”1 Tacos, Spinach, Straight Talk, and Metaphors Sometimes approaching “truth at a slant” as the poet, Emily Dickenson, advocates sets the stage for empathy and honest communication. But not always. Metaphors do not solve problems as much as uncover them, all the while inviting reflective practice. We invite you to savor and comment on these two morsels. 1Hamlet 2.1.66. Sandra L. Bertman, Ph.D. National Center for Death Education http://www.sandrabertman.com Email: sbertman@gmail.com Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education 2014, Vol. 20, No. 1, 39–42 ©2014 by the Association for the Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education 1075–1211/14 The Eyes of Texas Are Upon…Me Automatic doors slide open I enter, first time wearing my medical school shirt A coat of arms? Not quite, but I wear it as one, proudly Attention is drawn, one head, two heads, three heads turn Eyes gaze, then stare, then fix Now, uncomfortable Maybe brown and maroon don’t mix? So this is what the song means Somehow, I doubt it The Interview Interview day arrives, my sweat is heavy, bullets falling So many possible questions to be asked, so many answers to be said How am I different? Strengths? Weaknesses? Why do I want to be a physician? That is it, that is THE question So many possible responses, so many, I have it, THE response, my response I am calm now, no more bullets My response will be poetry, I am ready I walk in, formalities exchanged, here it comes “So, tell me about the violence in Mexico and the drug cartels” I wondered, did anyone else get this question? Here come the bullets The Score Within these walls, judgment is a ghost Assumptions are phantoms Disrespect is invisible, comparisons are formless So I thought Casual conversation leads to MCAT score discussion No hesitation to reveal mine, I am proud, I gave it my all My colleague begins to form a thought, a response Surely, it will be in keeping with this casual and harmless good natured banter “Well, it’s a good thing you’re Mexican, I’m sure that helped your application” A chuckle follows, if it were a text, JK would follow A good joke makes everyone laugh Judgment is well alive, Assumptions are of matter, Disrespect is visible Comparisons take form Poems Robert Dominguez Section Editor << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /None /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Gray Gamma 2.2) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Error /CompatibilityLevel 1.4 /CompressObjects /Off /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Perceptual /DetectBlends true /DetectCurves 0.1000 /ColorConversionStrategy /LeaveColorUnchanged /DoThumbnails true /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedOpenType false /ParseICCProfilesInComments true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams true /MaxSubsetPct 100 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveDICMYKValues true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveFlatness true /PreserveHalftoneInfo false /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts false /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile (Color Management Off) /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /CropColorImages true /ColorImageMinResolution 150 /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /Warning /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 150 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.40 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.76 /HSamples [2 1 1 2] /VSamples [2 1 1 2] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 15 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 15 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages true /GrayImageMinResolution 150 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /Warning /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 150 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.40 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.76 /HSamples [2 1 1 2] /VSamples [2 1 1 2] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 15 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 15 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages true /MonoImageMinResolution 1200 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /Warning /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 600 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /PDFA1B:2005 ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False /CreateJDFFile false /Description << /ARA /BGR /CHS /CHT /CZE /DAN /DEU /ESP /ETI /FRA /GRE /HEB /HRV /HUN /ITA (Utilizzare queste impostazioni per creare documenti Adobe PDF adatti per visualizzare e stampare documenti aziendali in modo affidabile. 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