Dear Reader,

Welcome to the very first edition of the HeARTbeat at Cornell!

As a journal focused on the intersection between healthcare and humanities, we invited members of the Cornell community to share their personal experiences and thoughts about medicine and the greater society we live in. This publication provides an imaginative outlet for anyone who wishes to express their perspectives on all aspects of health, such as a biological, anthropologic, and even historical perspective all through a creative lens. There was no prompt, yet we found a distinct lingering thematic connection between each piece. From a beautiful photograph of the local Ithaca Falls, to a passionate narrative of someone's first shift. A wonderfully complex short story, to a detailed interview. Each of these pieces sought to bring a new perspective to the term “healthcare” and what it means to us.

The HeARTbeat at Cornell Eboard is excited to introduce the theme “Epiphany” as the wide-spanning title of this edition. We are incredibly proud to share this collection of short stories, poems, paintings, photographs, and interviews with the community. This is a reflection of our shared yet unique lived experiences. These pieces have inspired us to continue to explore and live what we define as healthcare. We hope each of these pieces inspires you the same way they have us.

Best,
The HeARTbeat at Cornell Eboard

Timestruck

By: Vivian Hsieh, Human Development '26

Her memory burned with the image of the fortune tellers at her door. They arrived at the apartment as they always did: all black suits, hair slicked back or pulled tightly in a ponytail. Like some kind of funeral. The beginnings of a light rain darkened their suits, but they paid no attention to it. Cass opened the door on the third knock, already knowing what would happen next. She felt time slow, wishing to rewind, to do anything to pause this moment, as they silently handed her a white card folded in half. They nodded goodbye as she stood frozen in front of her door.

She considered tossing the card, burning it, anything to get it away from her eyes. But what if there was no tomorrow? She opened the card and registered the familiar seal at the top.

Dear Cass Miu,

Your life is due to end in exactly two years from this day. No, there is no way to change this number. No, we do not know how your life will end.

All the best.

Two years.

Among the many she’d heard about, it was average. The fortune telling business was mysterious but always accurate, and there was no telling when you would receive your note. Three days. Ten years. It felt unfair. Why should others get to know their death days for longer? Would it truly change the way she lived? But three years was cruel for Cass. It would be her graduation year, and death would be just a few months before it.

She steadied herself on the doorframe, closing the door as the pieces of her life crumbled from view. She never believed it would happen to her, not at twenty years old, not when there were still fifty more years of life, not when she was on the cusp of living her dreams. The evidence lay heavy in her hand.

So many years of telling herself that everything would be worth it. Just two more years before medical school; it would truly be a dream. And now. There was nothing except the sacrifices she’d made staying up late to study or take night shifts at the hospital. The friends she’d turned down as she reminded herself she could make friends in the future, when she had a stable career. The calls she’d missed from her parents as she finished a homework set. So many little things, needles of memories, stabbing ever so slightly at her heart. Not even the future could give her that time back.

The apartment felt too cramped with all the crumpled notebook pages fluttering on her desk and the leftover food still out on the counter. Finals studying truly could wait for a day. Or forever. She choked back a scream as she shoved the papers from her desk and onto the floor. Swallowed her tears as she tried to steady herself on the kitchen counter. Clawed at her clothing as she organized her thoughts.

What should I do now?

Lost. Cass hated that feeling of wandering around aimlessly, of losing time when more than ever, it was precious. What could she do when the only thought at the forefront of her mind was becoming a physician? She took a breath to calm her hands. Maybe talking to other Timestrucks would help, getting perspective on what she should be doing. That’s what she was now. Timestruck. Struck by the awareness of how quick every second passed.

She grabbed her phone and entered a quick search for the nearest Timestruck community center. 15 minutes walking, just off the west side of campus.

The rain was beginning to dwindle as she stepped outside, and the sun was peeking over the clouds. Something of a laugh escaped her throat. A realization of how beautiful the world was. The dew glittered in the sunlight and windows cast rainbows on the pavement. She continued down the road, casting a glance at her phone every so often. The pigment of the spring flowers seemed so bright today, and the light chill after rain no longer felt heavy, but invigorating. The campus roads were empty today; most students had already found spots in the library to study for their finals. Cass found peace in the quiet, allowing her to focus on everything while mourning her lost time. She took another left and arrived at a concrete building covered in murals.

It was exactly what she’d expected. Some dull gray excuse of a building dressed up with color to bring happiness despite the impending doom. The door was unlocked, and she entered a vibrant space. Wood furniture and warm lighting, plants hanging from windows, people of all ages milling around. A schedule of the week’s activities clung desperately to a bulletin board. Art sessions, exercise classes, music lessons, guest speakers, weekend trips.

Ah yes, a retirement home.

A cheerful woman in sweats approached Cass. “Hi I’m Grace. Nice to meet you. I’m the manager of this center, is there anything I can do for you today?”

“Cass,” she murmured, eyes wandering to the Timestrucks, “I got my letter today.”

“Welcome in, right now we are just finishing lunch, but you’re free to talk and explore. There’s a game room that a lot of guests enjoy or a garden out back if you’re interested.”

Cass nodded, but she wasn’t here to make small talk with someone who didn’t understand what it was like to read that letter. She wandered closer to the others, not sure who she was looking for. Perhaps someone her age. Perhaps someone who could guide her. Most of the Timestrucks were middle-aged or elderly. Expected, but it still hurt to see that only one or two others at the center today were around Cass’s age. A girl younger than Cass, her bald head under a cap, was reading in the corner. A mother with a baby in her arms stood next to the window, murmuring a lullaby. It wasn’t clear who was the Timestruck.

Cass felt the anger leave her body, replaced by a wave of everything and nothing. As if she was looking at the stars, surrounded by the beauty of existence, whole yet empty. Hopeful and sorrowful. Knowing that the smiles on their faces now would be the only memory she would have of them. She felt more fragile than ever, unidentified emotions threatening to overflow, but she felt strength at seeing them happy, fulfilled.

“Well, don’t just stand there, let me show you around.”

A young woman waved with an energy that practically exceeded the confines of the room. She had short black hair and dark eyes, a huge smile. She waved again, beckoning Cass to move over.

“Look, there’s so much to do here. My name is Sora. What’s yours?” “Cass.”
“May I?” she asked, gesturing to Cass’s hand.

Cass nodded, letting Sora take her hand and smiling as the action whisked her back to elementary school. Sora’s energy seemed to flow between their hands. Cass couldn’t help but to pick up the pace as they examined every room and corner of the center. Sora wasn’t lying when she said there were a lot of things to do. As they continued to the backyard, Sora talked about her favorite things to do there. She loved gardening, especially with herbs, and playing the guitar.

“I’m usually here in the afternoons because I would go to classes in the morning. I used to go to community college, but now I don’t,” she laughed as she said this.

Cass laughed with her, listening to her talk about her life. Sora seemed to glow as she talked more, as if releasing her story took some weight off her. She continued rambling, glancing once or twice at Cass to check if she was comfortable. At the edge of the garden was a wooden bench. Its armrests and legs were covered with ivy and it was hidden between a few bushes. Sora released Cass’s arm and plopped down, smiling widely at the sky.

Cass joined her, and finally spoke, “How do you do this?” Sora laughed. She was always laughing, “Do what, Cass?”

“Your energy, your smile, the way you walk with jubilance, the wonder that you have for this world. You’re dying, how do you do it?”

Sora’s eyes darted away at the mention of death. “We’re all dying, aren’t we Cass? Maybe both of us know exactly when, but it doesn’t change the fact that everyone is going to die. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

And here it was again. The feeling of being lost. Like a child at the supermarket when her parents left her for just one second. Lost in a world that was too large for her to fathom. Cass revealed her regrets of spending too little time with everyone and her failures at not being the perfect daughter. Described the hope that she had, what her future life would have been as a physician.

“I feel like I wasted time for something that won’t even happen,” she whispered.

“Yes, I know you’re mourning the life that’s been stripped from you. But surely, you enjoyed some of that time?”

“Of course, Sora. I loved learning. Being able to only begin to understand our bodies and the way every single small unit works within us to create who we are right now. I loved talking to my professors about how little we know. I loved helping patients when they could no longer see the good in life.”

“That’s it. Simply, the little things. Knowing that we are all here with so much yet so little time. We all want to do something. But we already do something. Breathing, living, loving. That’s what being timestruck means. Struck by how little and how much time we have, but knowing that our existence is that something.”

Cass looked away, hiding the tears welling up in her eyes.

“You don’t need to be a physician to do the things you love, Cass. You can just be you. No wasting time, no expectations. Just you.”

They smiled, regretting nothing, as the sun set over the garden.

Timestruck. The realization that we are all connected by life and death. Struck by the meaning of mortality and the complicated act of finding purpose in life.

If you’re wondering what happened to Sora, it was her last day on Earth. Sora received her letter one year before her death. She was battling long QT and experienced palpitations within the past few years. Although she was taking medication, she would often forget, worsening her symptoms. She loved going to community college, but she dropped out for the last few months of her life to pursue music and to inspire other Timestrucks to seize the little things in life. On her final day, she died from cardiac arrest, and physicians attempted to resuscitate her but could not.

Consent: it's simple as tea

By: Aindri Patra, Biological Sciences '25

lights off, the fan whirring in the background, 

the bright light of the projector flickers on.
a stick figure man appears on the screen –
if you’re still struggling with the consent,

just imagine you’re making them a cup of tea

sixteen years old, he sits in the plastic blue seat, confused.

no one is required to drink tea

how difficult could it be?
after all,
no means no –
so why does, to her, it sound like a silent plea?

to her,
a girl your age, by your side, yet somehow a world away,
the same video reminds her of
the bitter drink, the haze that blurred her mind,
the staring, the dirty whispers, the bruises marking her skin
the lectures, the harsh accusations, the “you should’ve known better”’s 

unconscious people don’t want tea
after all,
she always preferred coffee.

take the tea away, and make sure they’re safe 

he doesn't understand yet.
he’s never heard about anything like this before.
no lectures, no questions, no “why do men so often abuse women they love?”
no “what’s going on here?”, no “why is this so common”, no “what needs to change” 

after all,
consent: it’s just a gendered issue.

consent. it’s as simple as tea.

after all,
when tea spills, 

It stains.

Nameless

 Anonymous

Tonight, I am nameless.
For there are more important names to remember Than mine. You can refer to me as
the “assistant”
Or even just “kid”
so we don’t confuse ourselves.

Instead, there are other names we can cling to. 

Names such as yours.
Mrs. Shelley groaning in room 9
Or Mr. Jonesth catatonic in the hallway

Oh? HIPAA, you say?
You’re right, let’s scratch their names out too.

If you insist, we can
Leave our names at the door.

 Let them marinate out back 

Embrace some new names 

Instead.

What names can we call out though? 

What’s my diagnosis? Oh you’re putting me 

on the spot. I guess you has a
Bad case of AFib. Am I sure?
Not sure yet.
I can’t assign a name.

There are names that rattle around the bottle. 

Diazepam for her seizures
Dilaudid for his pain.
A medley of Lactated Ringers

Swirling in her veins.
Or a cocktail of
Droperidol for the ol’ fighter.

These names are boring though. 

They mean nothing. Medications 

And symptoms do not reflect you. 

I would rather let our names back 

in from the cold.

Would you mind telling me,
Your name again? Oh, wow.
It’s a pretty name. One that
Truly reflects you. Goes beyond the seizures 

The diazepam, the diagnoses. Beyond

The room they shoved you in hastily. 

Your name is yours.
I think I’ll remember
your name.

The First Shift

By: Wayne Shih, Physics & CS '27

I was excited. After months of didactic lectures, mock scenarios, and seemingly endless exams, I had finally passed it all. The worst was over, and now I was about to start my first EMS rotation —real life, real patients, real responsibility.

I had arrived an hour early to make a good impression and was just standing around waiting for my preceptors to show up so I could formally introduce myself. Yet when they finally did, they were late anyway. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but they looked... plain. A bit tired, even. No capes or superhero vibes. But they were friendly, down to earth, and talked to me like an equal even though I was just a student. They started testing me, quizzing me on basic protocols, teaching me the little nuts and bolts they had learned the hard way. I was eager, answering as quickly as I could. I could feel the fire in my chest. This was it.

Fast forward to the ambulance. To be honest, it was dull. When you break it down, an ambulance really has just medical supplies, medical staff, and a bed. Although I suppose that’s just a hospital too. The shift was far from constant action – running lights, life-or-death situations. Most of the time we were just waiting for something, anything to happen. Most of the time we just had our heads buried in our phones, occasionally glancing at the radio for a call. I passed the time with a game on my phone, letting my excitement slowly fade into the background.

Then the alert came.

It was from a hospital, which I thought was odd. What could we offer that wouldn’t already be provided? But we didn’t waste time questioning it. We grabbed our gear and headed out, slamming the ambulance door behind us.

In the room, the scene felt like a movie. Paramedics were already present, giving CPR, nurses on standby, all working frantically. The patient was on the bed, motionless. No pulse. CPR in progress. To me, it really felt like we were walking into a scene from a nightmare. I froze for a second, trying to make sense of what was happening but nothing stopped around me. I didn’t get a chance to consider whether I, just a lowly student, would meaningfully help at all—if I could make any impact.

Abruptly, I was pushed to CPR and in a blur, I was above the patient. I didn’t know if I was pressing hard enough. I didn’t know if I was compressing the right place. Time was slipping and I had no confidence. But no one had stopped me, and I continued until I couldn’t anymore. Then my preceptor took over.

Ultimately, there was no change. No response. After what felt like an eternity, the time of death was called.

We left the room quietly, no fanfare, no dramatic final moments. No one was saved. No families to console. No tears to wipe away. It all felt too clean. Too routine.

Back in the ambulance, I sat down beside one of my mentors. He could tell instantly. The spark had gone from my eyes. But his... were the same.

I didn’t know if my actions had made a difference. I didn’t know if my technique was off, or if anything I did could have changed the outcome. But in that moment, I realized something important. No matter where I was or who I was, I played a role in someone’s healthcare. And sometimes, just being there—pushed into the moment, jolted into action—that mattered. It wasn’t about saving the day. It was about showing up, doing what you could, when it counted most.

Wisdom Teeth: The Real Hole Left Behind

By: Jonathan Jiang, Entomology '28

You cautiously probe the room, light’s glaring so bright 

They gave you a piece of plastic to chew
You take deep breaths, getting rid of your fright
The dentist sits on a chair, waiting for you

They clean your teeth, feels like forever
No cavities this time, you’re in the clear
They stop you as you leave with a “however”— 

Your overgrown wisdom teeth, they fear

They send you to a new orthodontist
Your tooth is too close to your nerves
A new scan of your teeth to take—you must 

You feel these procedures draining your reserves

The grueling operation is done, you feel groggy 

But wisdom teeth finally removed, a sense of bliss 

A request for the bill, you want a copy
Your insurance does not cover any of this

When they drilled your teeth,
They drilled the vault of your bank
When they popped the tooth from beneath, 

They pulled open the door with a yank

When you were leaking blood in your mouth after, 

You were leaking more money from your coffers 

When you couldn’t eat for a whole week after, 

You couldn’t buy anything either with dollars

Exploring Medicine and the Healthcare Field Through the Perspective of Law

By: Natalie DiGirolamo, Cognitive Science '27

I have always been particularly curious about the intersection between medicine and other professional fields, especially ones like law that seem so diametrically opposed to medicine in the world of academia. To explore this interdisciplinary connection between law and medicine in a more personal and in-depth way, I decided to sit down with my own father, Christopher DiGirolamo, who is a personal injury attorney that has been practicing law for over 30 years. Below is the full transcript of our insightful conversation viewing medicine and the healthcare field through the perspective of law.

Natalie (N): Hello Mr. DiGirolamo, thank you so much for joining me today.

Christopher DiGirolamo (CDG): Of course, Natalie, the pleasure is all mine.

N: All right. So, let me begin by asking you, as a personal injury attorney, do you often work with medical professionals?

CDG: Actually, all my cases involve injured plaintiffs, people who were injured as a result of automobile accidents, slip or trip and falls, work related injuries, construction accidents, and other similar injuries. So, every one of my clients comes under the care of a medical provider, meaning I work with these providers as well.

N: Would you say that you have a lot of exposure to how these professionals interact with their patients, or rather, your clients then?

CDG: Absolutely. In fact, a big part of my job is to make sure that I coordinate with the medical providers, the doctors and therapists who treat the injured client so that I can make sure the treatment is not only moving towards helping to heal the injured client, but also for me to legally be able to get evidence to show that the injury is causally related to the accident in question and that the condition, unfortunately, results in a permanent injury.

N: Have you ever noticed differences in the ways, just through your own exposure, certain medical professionals treat your clients based on any particular factors?

CDG: Well, I will say it does seem that clients who were injured in the course of their employment, regardless of their race, gender, or sexuality are treated differently than people who are injured outside of work, like for example in a car accident. The main difference is when you're injured in New Jersey during work, you have to go to the doctors that are picked in the network by the employer's insurance company. In contrast, somebody who gets injured in a car accident can actually pick their own doctor. So, what I see sometimes is a bias from the doctors who are in the network of the employer’s workers comp insurance treating the patients, perhaps with less liberal interpretation and treatment course than they would if the actual injured person was allowed to pick their own doctor.

N: Very interesting. So, there's much less of a personal connection when they can't pick their own medical professional?

CDG: Correct. And I do believe there's a bias because again, the doctors who treat through the network of the employer certainly have a motivation to get the injured worker back to work as soon as possible—sometimes in spite of the complaints, the injuries, and the limitations that the injured worker has.

N: And when assessing the injuries of your clients, have you ever found discrepancies in the true severity of their pain compared to reports you were given from medical professionals?

CDG: Yes, certainly. Sometimes it happens even in the treating doctor's charts. There are always at least one or two visits where there's inconsistencies between what my client has told me they discussed with their doctor versus what actually makes it into the doctor's chart. Especially in physical therapy sessions, it's very common for the physical therapy notes to not be as accurate in terms of the threshold and levels of pain and discomfort that a client of mine told me they are suffering from versus what a therapist reports in the office note or chart.

N: So, would there be a specific reason why these inconsistencies may occur?

CDG: Well, that's a great question. I've actually inquired on multiple occasions because the reports of pain are sometimes so dramatically different between my clients and their medical providers. What I've been told by the therapy staff is that in order for them to submit their bills for payment to an insurance company, they must show that each physical therapy session shows improvement. So, they tailor the note to reflect that the person is better than they were at the last visit and so on, when in reality that does not always happen. There are inconsistencies, which I would comfortably say to you happen for reasons beyond medicine. It's the insurance billing factor that rears its ugly head and unfortunately makes for some inconsistent recording of complaints.

N: That's quite insightful. Now, have you ever heard any personal stories just when speaking with your clients about some of the treatment experiences that they've had?

CDG: I have. In fact, I can tell you a story. I had a young man who suffered a back injury during work. He went through lower back surgery, and he was doing his physical therapy rehab post surgery and doing fairly well. At one point during his physical therapy, they were asking him to do this specific exercise that required he lift a series of boxes, each one being a bit heavier than the next, with him bending at the waist to pick them up. And during the second episode he stopped midway through the exercise and told the therapist, “Hey, this doesn't feel right.” And the therapist said, “No, no, no. It's supposed to hurt. That's why we're doing these exercises. You've got to push your way through it.” My client listened, and it ended up causing a complete rupture of a disc on the level directly below the injured level and my client was forced to go through a second surgery. In that case, I was actually forced to sue the physical therapist for worsening my client’s injury through the inappropriate treatment.

N: Wow. Have you ever had that happen more than once or was this kind of a special case?

CDG: That was the most severe result, but I have certainly had cases where I've had clients complain to me that, during exercises, while they tried their best, they were struggling and that their therapists continued to push for them to try harder. Or, in some cases, when the client would just say no, then the recording in the note was that the client was non-compliant during the treatment. So unfortunately, that's happened several times which then not only creates discord among the treatment plan, but also in that client's case.

N: Shifting gears a bit here, as an attorney who actually tries cases in court, how has your experience been working with medical professionals to give direct testimony for your own cases?

CDG: One thing I've learned, and I do that's a little different than a lot of other personal injury attorneys, is the doctors I work with in direct testimony are not just my clients’ treating doctors. They’re also my witnesses. So, for me to protect my client and my expert witness, I spend a lot of time preparing both for the direct exam because it is critical to have the doctor’s testimony be consistent from what my client testifies to earlier in the trial. Keep in mind, they're rarely if ever, in the courtroom together. So, I spend a lot of time with my doctor and make sure any issues that have come up during treatment we can discuss and explain away. Also, sometimes doctors aren't as comfortable coming to court. You know, in a courtroom, the lawyer is the expert, not the doctor. And sometimes, doctors are used to being in charge so when you bring them into a courtroom, it's a foreign environment. It’s my job to try and ease that concern on their part by going through the questions that I'm going to ask and practicing many times over.

N: So, we just discussed your experiences in terms of direct testimony. On the other hand, what would you say your experience has been like dealing with medical professionals in the context of cross examination?

CDG: Well, I have a certain technique and style. It's a little aggressive when I'm cross examining an expert. Now, I don't just show up and pick a medical or legal fight with the defense expert. What I do is I spend weeks preparing for the cross examination. I do a background check on the doctor. I find out if they have any issues with certifications like lapses or discipline from the medical board for reasons that aren't public. I see if there are any skeletons in their closet that I could bring out during trial to try and discredit this medical expert. Very difficult to do because medical experts know the medicine far better than I ever could, even though in 35 years I've learned more medicine than probably most lawyers should or do. But I've done that because it allows me to kind of equal the playing field against some of these experts. Now, in my experience many of the medical experts hired by the defense are a lot more familiar with the courtroom. They don't treat patients; they've become full time medical experts and spend more time in a courtroom than an office. So those seasoned “hired gun” experts usually are the savviest. A raw surgeon brought in, like on my end of the case, who conducted an emergency surgery in an ER won't have the sophistication of a courtroom demeanor like a seasoned gun. However, what I've learned in my experience is if I can press the buttons of these seasoned doctors a bit and get them to sound like obnoxious hired gun who are only there for the money, I can show the bias and I can show that this doctor's opinion is truly unfair and typically inaccurate.

N: Just out of curiosity, have you ever had to contact another additional medical expert to help you discredit the opinions of an opposing professional?

CDG: Actually, yes. There was a very interesting case I had involving a young woman who was a pedestrian in a crosswalk and was hit by a garbage truck, resulting in a significant traumatic brain injury. Despite appearing normal, the defense in that case was so convinced she was faking, they hired a private investigator to follow her in every moment of her life, except when she was in the midst of the case. So, to prove she had internal brain trauma, I needed her to go for a neuropsychological cognitive evaluation test, which is a very detailed test that takes up to 10 hours to do. However, the very highly regarded neuropsychologist I sent her to couldn’t get accurate results because she only spoke Korean and taking the test in English would hinder some of the potentials findings. But the neuropsychologist was able to recommend a Korean neuropsychologist my client could go to instead, who then tested her and provided a more accurate report I could submit as evidence. The defense hired a neuropsychologist who only spoke English and administered the text to my client in English, and the results of that test claimed she was fine. I immediately called the original neuropsychologist back who had declined giving her the test and he ended up providing me with a written paragraph establishing that the test cannot be given accurately, nor will the results be accurate unless the language is in their native understood language. As a result, this letter was critical in severely weakening the defense's case.

CDG: And so, when I had a case where I had to learn the medicine, I would go to Rutgers University, and I N: Wow, what a fascinating story. Now, a more general question here, but as a personal injury attorney, I mean obviously it's not near the same level as a medical professional, but do you sometimes feel like you're studying to be a medical student because of all the medical terms and knowledge you need for your cases?

CDG: Well, I'll tell you this. You know, I'm not a young man. And when I started practicing law about 35 years ago, that was way before the Internet.

N: Right, of course.

would go to their medical library, or I would go to the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark. And I would read medical journals, or I would read books on anatomy and physiology. I would ask the doctors if they would spend some time educating me. Now, with the advent of the Internet, it is such a wonderful reservoir of knowledge. I just need to type in a question, and I have medical information as if I'm in my second year of medical school right at my disposal. And I will tell you a significant part of my practice is spent learning the medicine. In fact, I lecture throughout the country to other lawyers on understanding the medicine and the reason why you need to know it as well as or very close to the medical experts in your case. So yes, in that sense sometimes it does feel like I am a medical student in training with each new case.

N: Now, you said that you've been practicing law for about 35 years. Would you say that you've seen an evolution of the medical field and its inner workings over such an extended period of time?

CDG: A very fantastic question! I will tell you that in those years, medical technology has made huge strides. When I first started practicing, it was exceedingly rare. And really, it was almost always reserved for the most tragic of cases where somebody would undergo, for example, a spinal surgery. In the span of only about 35 years, the frequency of those spinal surgeries has become almost so normal, and so technologically advanced, so what used to take 10 hours now takes maybe 2. Due to the advances in medicine and the strides made in progressing medical tools, the technology and the ability to use computers, there has been a revolution in the medical field that is an amazing thing for me to see. And really, if I had in my first ten years of practice about one or two cases with a spinal surgery, nowadays, I have one case with spinal surgery a week, so that should make it clear how the technology advances in medicine have in such a short amount of time improved massively. At a glance, 35 years is a lot of time, but not in the greater scheme of history. And yet, in that amount of time the advances in medical technology I’ve witnessed firsthand are shocking.

N: I would have to agree with you on that. All right, so we've had a very interesting discussion about your experiences as a personal injury attorney and what that's revealed to you about medicine and the healthcare field in general. So just to kind of wrap it up, do you have any additional comments on your perspective as a personal injury attorney who has frequent exposure to these things?

CDG: I can say that in the years I've been doing this type of law where understanding medicine is so integral for me to be successful, I have incredible respect for everybody in the medical field, ranging from the ambulance core drivers to the emergency room physicians to the treating doctors, to the surgeons, the nurses, the coordinators in a facility and all the therapists who are trying to work to the best of their ability to get these patients back to some semblance of a normal life. I’m very happy that I've had the opportunity to work with these skilled professionals and to learn about their world. It's definitely made a big impact on my professional life in the legal world. It is amazing to see such connection in fields that people would consider complete opposites, medicine and law. In my world the two are like brother and sister.

N: What a lovely way to describe the interdisciplinary bond between medicine and the law. Well,

Mr. DiGirolamo thank you so much for your time and your commentary. It was very insightful, and I really appreciate you sitting down with me today to discuss these things.

CDG: Of course, Natalie. I am honored to provide my perspective on a field I admire so much.

Acknowledgements

The HeARTbeat at Cornell’s first publication is made possible due to immense support and hard work from our members and executive board. Thank you for bringing our mission to life!

With special appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Cohn and Dr. Fridlund for their advice, mentorship, and guidance throughout the club’s beginning.

Additionally, we would like to extend a special thank you to Arnold’s Printing Corporation.