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POMA wants The Journal of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association to be a safe space for all DOs to have a voice and be heard. Opportunities to contribute in all content areas are open to all osteopathic medical students, residents and physicians. Share your thoughts, ideas and submissions via email to [email protected].
*Views expressed in The Journal of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board, The JPOMA, or POMA unless specified.
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Medicine for Your Soul: Caring for the Physician Behind the White Coat: Yup, that's You.
October 2026 | Vol. 70, No. 3
By Kelly Cavalli, DO, LECOM-Bradenton '08
I was a medical student in my fourth year doing a clinical rotation at a teaching hospital, and an upper resident was giving a lecture in pulmonary medicine. At the end of his talk, he displayed a sentence that said, “Medicine is what you do; it's not who you are.” I didn't understand it back then. I was a budding, excited medical student. I thought, “Medicine is everything; what is he talking about?” It took more years of internship, residency, clinical practice, getting married, and having three beautiful kids to realize what he meant.
As osteopathic physicians, we are trained to take care of the person as a whole. Mind, body, and spirit. We are taught to look beyond just the diagnosis. To consider the person sitting in front of us, their stressors, their environment, their emotional and physical health, and the many pieces that make up their overall well-being.
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"It's Probably Nothing": The Art of Looking Twice
October 2026 | Vol. 70, No. 3
By Stephie Thomas, LECOM OMS-IV
What do we miss when we accept that something is probably nothing? I have always wondered why patients minimize their symptoms. Is it fear of what those symptoms might mean? Anxiety about being judged or misunderstood? Or is it simply easier to convince ourselves that something is “nothing” than to consider that it could be something more?
Throughout my clinical rotations, I have had the privilege of meeting patients from all walks of life. Some are quick to share their symptoms and concerns, while others are more reserved and insist that everything is fine, even when it clearly is not. I have learned that, with these patients, what goes unsaid can be just as important as what is said. Sometimes, the concern is hiding in plain sight, in a detail that a patient has dismissed as nothing.
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Medicine is Hard, Medicine Should Not be Toxic
October 2026 | Vol. 70, No. 3
By Sierra Lovisone, DO, LECOM-SH '25
Medicine is hard.
Medicine asks for our time, our minds, our energy, our patience, pieces of our hearts, and parts of our souls.
It asks us to show up on the hardest of days and at the darkest of times.
It asks us to be fully present for the highs and for the lows.
It asks us to function on days we feel we have nothing left to give, when sleep is minimal and stress is elevated.
It asks for everything we have.
But that is just it: medicine asks. We deliver.
We show up. We learn. We adapt. We conquer our fears. We build confidence. We accept the challenge.
But somewhere along the way, we also accepted that those who were healing must first endure suffering.
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