Collective Hive July 2026

July 01, 2026

Ex Vivo, Summer 2026

Today we’re proud to share the Summer 2026 edition of Ex Vivo, Hippocratic Collective’s art and literary magazine.

Before anything else, thank you. To every physician, medical student, resident, artist, photographer, illustrator, poet, writer, dreamer, doodler, and creative who entrusted us with their work.

And to our editorial team, who spent countless hours reading, editing, designing, debating, and shaping this issue into something beautiful and unique.

One of the great paradoxes of medicine is that it attracts some of the most multidimensional, gifted people you’ll ever meet.

The violinist becomes a plastic surgeon.

The painter becomes an internist.

The photographer becomes a radiologist.

The people who make it into medicine almost always have some sort of hidden or locked-away talent. But they usually become just that - something that once was. Now a useful factoid for a resume, but not something that deserves any real time anymore.

And of course, as people get older and their lives become more complicated, hobbies and interests fade. Physicians are not unique in this, but the path from gifted musician/athlete/artist to doctor-who-only-focuses-on-medicine feels somehow more…forced. Most people who apply for jobs in their late 20s don’t spend much time in their interview talking about their extracurricular activities, yet residency practically demands it. Once July 1st rolls around though, good luck bringing up your hobbies again.

Answered a question wrong on rounds? “Maybe you should’ve spent the weekend studying instead of rock climbing…” The thing that you once loved becomes more and more difficult to justify. Art becomes something that you used to do. Writing can wait until after boards. Music is for people with more time.

The expectation, spoken or unspoken, is that complete devotion to medicine or your specialty is the highest virtue. Anything outside of that is a distraction.

We reject that idea. We believe that a well-rounded physician is a better physician. That creativity does not compete with being an excellent physician. In fact, it can deepen your relationship to your work.

Art teaches observation and patience. Writing teaches reflection and honesty. Photography teaches attention to detail and appreciation for the world around you.

The arts remind us that medicine is not merely the treatment of disease or the ability to click around in an EMR with hyper-efficiency, but the care of human beings. They cultivate the very qualities that actually make a good physician: curiosity, empathy, humility, nuance, and the ability to slow down once in a while.

Art also gives us a tether to the world outside of medicine. Medicine, and especially training, can be all-consuming. The hours are long and the emotional stakes are high, and pretty soon your world begins to shrink. Next time you go to a party or a gathering, note how often the conversation turns to the hospital…Then make another note to yourself and say, I’m not going to be one of those people who only talks about the hospital!

We publish Ex Vivo because it’s interesting. It’s cool. It’s beautiful. And we want there to be a home for the humanity that can slip away on your path to becoming a physician. A place where physicians could simply make things because they feel compelled to do so. And fine, the medical students can use it on their residency applications…

We hope you’ll spend some time with this issue. Share it with your friends and family. Read an essay over morning coffee. Take in a poem over night coffee. Behold a beautiful drawing over 2AM coffee.

So thank you to everyone who has helped build this community that believes art and medicine should coexist. They’ve always belonged together.

HC End Of Academic Year Party

Thank you to everyone who attended our End of Academic Year Party in L.A. earlier this month! We gathered 50 physicians in the Hollywood Hills to celebrate the end of another year, in a space that allows doctors to just be, and relax and connect with other physicians.

We were treated to an incredible performance from our HC Artist in Residence, Maheetha Bharadwaj, and the incredible Rangeela Dance Co and enjoyed gifting suites from our partner, Clove.

We love a good party here at the HC, so stay tuned for our next event!

A Few Of Our Favorite 'Progress Notes' From June

50 Things I Know About Being A Surgery Resident

By Liz Malphrus, MD, MPP

I know that no matter how hard you work and how much you sacrifice, your attendings will always think they had it worse. The reality is that residency now is just totally different and it’s not a contest anyway. I know that residency is a zero sum game, where if you aren’t at work or don’t do something, that work will always fall on your co-resident. Setting boundaries only works if it’s through collective action. In the meantime, take care of each other and acknowledge that it’s the system that’s the problem, not the people trapped in it.

My Wife Is A 1950s Man

By Colin Royal

Many discussions about gender disparities in medicine focus on the "second shift" phenomenon: the unpaid labor women perform after returning home from work. Childcare. Housework. Emotional labor. Management of family affairs. Those burdens are real, and they matter. But Frances Mei largely doesn't have them. If we are searching for a physician who has been freed from many of the traditional expectations placed upon women, she is a remarkably clean test case. And yet the outcomes are not what the traditional narrative, that this is a meritocracy, would predict.

Kangaroo Courts in Surgery Part 1: Firing A Resident

By Mel Thacker, MD

Dr. Williams uses his right hand to slide the papers toward the center of the table, then clears his throat. His mind was already made up. I sat at the table uncomfortably for a few minutes before I timidly nod my assent. They were going to fire her. I wouldn't stand in their way.

The Myth of Resident Replaceability

By Julia Hyacinthe, MD

The threat of replacement, combined with the responsibility of being “essential,” creates the perfect cage. It convinces residents that we have no leverage, power, or choice. If we leave, we’re told someone else will fill our spot. If we complain, we’re ungrateful. And if we organize, we risk harming patients. But are residents even as replaceable as we’re told?

Brokenhearted: More Than a Metaphor

By Sacha McBain, PhD

When I saw the news that Marjane Satrapi, the Iranian-French author of Persepolis, had reportedly “died of sadness” at age 56, it carried a strange tension. On one hand, it felt like a familiar expression of grief accompanied by a knowing nod. On the other, the phrase “died of sadness” was loaded with the emotional charge of a taboo piece of gossip. A kind of subdued sensationalism brushing up against an uncomfortable question we don’t really want to know the answer to: can emotional experience really become so physiologically powerful that it contributes to illness or even death?

Your Podcast Binge List

We linked some YouTube and Spotify pages for you, but click here to listen to any of our shows on the platform of your choice.

Explore Our Growing Podcast Network

Here’s what’s live and ready for your next commute, call-room break, or coffee run:

Want to Get Involved?

Since launching, we’ve been blown away by how many physicians have reached out asking, “How can I get involved?”

Here’s how:

  • Submit your writing for consideration on our blog

  • Pitch us a creative idea or original column

  • Apply to be a guest on a podcast

  • Follow us and share our content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube 

The Collective only works because of voices like yours, and there’s always room for more.

Until next month,
The HC Team

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