Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Denis Gill

  • Polio conundrums

    Denis Gill Dublin, Ireland   Ancient Egyptian stele of Ruma For most children, infection with the polio virus caused no symptoms or a minor illness. But about 1% of those infected experienced paralysis of one or both lower limbs. Worse still, bulbar paralysis could lead to the inability to breathe. The effects of polio were…

  • Doctors like eponymity

    Denis Gill Dublin, Ireland   I must confess to liking medical eponyms. As a medical student in 1960s Dublin, we were taught the names of famous Irish physicians of the Georgian period (1780–1840), a time when Dublin was famed for its bedside teaching. Their names evoked an interest in the history of medicine and in…