One of the frustrations of medical school is the distance between the student experience and direct patient care. Medical student involvement in care and care research doesn’t have to be strictly clinical. There are many areas outside the clinical realm that affect the patient experience, and offer an opportunity for medical students to become involved in meaningful care and research.

Med student Ramona Mittal found herself working to gather information on a deeply personal practice at many hospitals: the collection, preservation and presentation of mementos from children at the end of life. She has been working to better understand how and why different medical centers manage this delicate but powerful task.