Summary of "The Clinic" by Jeff Gremmels

"The Clinic" - Jeff Gremmels is an eye-opening experience that most medical student may never see. His tale begins on one of his regularly scheduled clinic shifts. He examines a young, teen-aged male who is brought in with complaints of stomachaches. The patients mother answers as many questions as she can but the medical student cannot get the patient to open up. When the medical student finds many red markings all over the boy's body, his mind instantly scours through the medical lectures he has heard during his schooling. Still unable to explain why this patient is ill, he explains his findings to the senior physician. She immediately goes to the patient, removes the mother from the room and admits the patient to the hospital. After all is settled for the patient, she explains to the medical student that the markings are caused by a lighter. This patient has had numerous hospital visits due to self-mutilation from childhood abuse. The medical student realizes that he never looked past finding something physically wrong and had unknowingly neglected the mental anguish this child was suffering through.

By Jamie, Heidi, Natalia, and Jacqueline