Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Arabic

  • It’s all in a name

    Rida KhanNew York, United States I struggle with the letters that make up my nameIt hesitates and falls flat on their tonguesAnd although I’ve searched for reason, there is an inexplicable shameThat I’ve unwillingly carried since I was young  Until one day, in a hospital bed ten paces from the nurse’s stationA tired man of…

  • History of medicine in ancient India

    Keerthana Kalla Seattle, Washington, United States   Shushrut Statue In Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar. Photo by Alokprasad. 2009. Via Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. The chronicle of medicine is the story of man’s struggle against illness. As early as 5000 BC, India developed a comprehensive form of healing called Ayurveda. Such traditional healing was first recorded between…

  • A brief life

    Andrea Eisenberg Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States I felt his legs wiggling in the sac of warm fluid surrounding him. His body was so tiny, his kicks were like a feather passing across my fingers. But his warm, dark world was about to slip away. Did he already sense it? Or did he swim peacefully, oblivious…

  • The scourge, the scientist, and the swindle

    Anne Jacobson Oak Park, Illinois, United States   Alice Augusta Ball, 1915. (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain) “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as…

  • Blood beliefs and practices in Iran

    Bahar DowlatshahiTehrann, Iran Blood is believed to have special abilities and properties in many eastern countries such as Iran. Even human personality traits, emotions, and relationships are referred to with blood. Angry people boil their blood; those who are kind and loving are called warm-blooded. In the tradition of some tribes, a stranger can be…

  • The history and mystery of cupping

    Mariel Tishma Chicago, Illinois, United States   Peasant Spa of Krapinske Toplice, Yugoslavia. Where ancient method of cupping using cow horns is practised. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY Maybe your chest hurts from coughing, or maybe your muscles ache. Maybe you feel sluggish and anxious, worn out, and not sure why. There is a treatment, some…

  • Interviewing, Gibran, calligraphy

    Saleh AldasouqiEast Lansing, Michigan, United States One of the most enjoyable parts of my academic job is teaching. Interacting with medical students, residents, and fellows is a wonderful environment to practice medicine; and one particular fun part in teaching is interviewing for new training positions, residency, and fellowship. Interviewing gives one a unique opportunity to…