Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Larry Zaroff

  • Emily Dickinson’s mystifying in-sight

    Larry ZaroffTony ChanPalo Alto, California, United States In “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—,” Emily Dickinson manifests her mystifying insight into the physiology of the death of vision, going beyond death and living to talk about it (465).1 Remarkably, her poetic vision provides insights into the function of eyesight that parallels what is currently…

  • Gregor goes to the doctor

    Larry Zaroff Palo Alto, California, United States   Photo by Anthony Kei C on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. My clinic is far North in Acres, Montana, perversely, a small town near the Canadian border, where, in October, without permission the dark sneaks in early. My work here, after twenty-six years as a cardiac surgeon in…

  • Learning compassion – learning forgiveness

    Larry ZaroffCalifornia, United States I once made a technical error that injured a patient. An error of commission. Distressed, I wrote to several cardiac surgeons with whom I was acquainted through training or practice. I asked if they had made similar mistakes and how they were dealing with their mistakes. Were they embarrassed, ashamed? Did…

  • To mount a camel

    Larry ZaroffStanford University, California For the West, Afghanistan is a country difficult to understand. Though largely Muslim, it is a society made up of multiple ethnic groups and classes, beset by ideological disagreements, with disconnected provinces that are unstable, unconquerable, and often anarchic. All Afghans are culturally mixed, yet are highly independent, believe strongly in…

  • Leonardo’s heart

    Larry ZaroffPalo Alto, California, United States The surgeon comes to the operating room at seven a.m. for her eight o’clock mitral valve repair. A warm-up. Before any heart operation she always checks the elephants in the room. At that early hour, alone with her elephants, she feels closely connected to them, her better hands. An…