Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Fall 2013

  • Placebo effect or care effect? Four examples from the literary world

    Pekka Louhiala Raimo Puustinen Finland   It is common knowledge that patients may exhibit improvement following an encounter in which no specific drugs or effective medications were prescribed. Indeed, even fictional doctors have often been depicted as knowing that their patients may require no active drugs and that their mere presence, their advice and encouragement,…

  • Cosmas and Damian: a southern Italian story of tolerance, sex, war, religion, and medicine

    Giorgina Piccoli Martina Ferraresi Orbassano, Torino, Italy   Figure 1 – Sts. Cosmas and Damian Riace, Italy, GB Piccoli In a time of war, terror, and religious intolerance, it may be worth reconsidering our roots as physicians and healers. Most physicians are acquainted with some aspects of the story of the twin brothers, Cosmas and…

  • Four short literary incisions (Or how I began to write things that did not let me sleep)

    Catalina Florescu Staten Island, New York, United States   In memoriam, to mom and dad [Episode One: On Life and Even More Life] Carla hasn’t said a word since last Friday when her younger sister, Elvira, stopped talking. Elvira has been lying in bed, eyes almost shut all the time. If Elvira is in pain,…

  • Placebo effect or care effect? Four examples from the literary world

    Pekka Louhiala, D.Med.Sci., PhD Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland  Raimo Puustinen, MD, PhD, FT School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Finland It is common knowledge that patients may exhibit improvement following an encounter in which no specific drugs or effective medications were prescribed. Indeed, even fictional doctors have often been depicted as knowing that…

  • The male nurse in literature

    Solomon PosenSydney, Australia Fictional nurses continue to be predominantly female. In a brilliant essay Fiedler1 makes the point that in literature the terms “Nurse” and “Woman” are almost synonymous. As a result, male nurses, who currently constitute between 6 and 8% of the nursing workforce in the USA,2 Canada3 and Australia4 are considered a paradox…

  • Medicine and culture: on becoming a nurse

    Shirley Stephenson Chicago, Illinois, United States   Photography by Mark Belokopytov There are things that make us uncomfortable, such as public speaking or taking a seat on an airplane as coats, bags, or limbs spill over the border of armrest. We are uncomfortable for a moment when we first sit very close to a stranger.…

  • Michael Reese Archive: Comments from our readers

    In November 1988 the Board of Trustees altered the rules for the appointment of new departmental chairs so that they could be hired directly by the hospital president without a search committee of the professional staff. I personally argued to the other four physician trustees prior to the board of trustees meeting (where this action…

  • Michael Reese Hospital – Physicians

    Excerpts from the book All Our Lives: A Centennial History of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, 1881-1981, Sarah Gordon, ed In 1899, the West Side Dispensary at Clinton and Judd Streets was closed anda new, larger building was dedicated at the corner of Maxwell and Morgan Streets.Participants in the ceremony included Dr. Emil G.…

  • Michael Reese Hospital — Neighborhoods and patients

    Excerpts from the book All Our Lives: A Centennial History of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, 1881-1981, Sarah Gordon, ed. Related articles Michael Reese Hospital – BeginningsMichael Reese Hospital – Nurses, interns, and residentsMichael Reese Hospital – PhysiciansMichael Reese Hospital – PediatricsMichael Reese Archive: Comments from our readers Fall 2013 | |

  • Michael Reese Hospital – Nurses, interns, and residents

    Excerpts from the book All Our Lives: A Centennial History of Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, 1881-1981, Sarah Gordon, ed. The first nurses were hired through ads placed in local publications. In 1890, Michael Reese Hospital decided to open a school of nursing, and trained its first cohort of nurses. In the first year, 15…