Month: May 2017
-
Strokes
Stephen MeadAlbany, New York, USA Who am I? Nobodybut myself. Here I lie, quite anchored,a hesitant child led by questionswhich assure proper response.I grant them whatever they want,a nod or a name.From them I expect nothing lessand get plenty of, what is calledhere, therapeutic stimulation. The pleasure of such handsI readily accept, for to themI…
-
Joseph Babinski of the Babinski Sign
In 1848 populist revolutions swept across Europe, in Germany, France, and Italy—and also in Poland, where an uprising to gain independence from Russia was ruthlessly suppressed. To escape the repression that followed, Aleksander and Henryieta Babinski fled to France. Their son Joseph was born there in 1857, in Paris—not in Poland or even in Chile…
-
The blue pain
Shirali RainaNoida, India His black smudged,The white blurred,Grey and only greyHis shadowed world.Breathing in doubt,Breathing out dread.Angels in his heart,And demons in the head. His mind in tatters,Blue, blue the pain.Shunned and ragged,The world of insane.Mutes of the dusk,Dawns of half dead.Angels in his heart.And demons in the head. Oh ! The temptationOf the fatal…
-
Aequanimitas and apathy
Lee W. EschenroederCharlottesville, Virginia On May 1, 1889, Sir William Osler, one of the greatest clinicians and educators of all time, stood before students at the University of Pennsylvania and delivered the valedictory address “Aequanimitas.” Since that day equanimity, or “imperturbability” as Osler also named it, has become one of the most prized qualities of…
-
Portraiture in the head and neck cancer clinic: A patient’s perspective
Mark GilbertHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada James E. Van ArsdallOmaha, Nebraska, United States I first met Scottish artist Mark Gilbert in 2013 as a participant in his Ph.D. dissertation study, “The Experience of Portraiture in Clinical Settings” [EPICS]. I was introduced to the study during a follow-up appointment with my head and neck cancer surgeon. Twelve…
-
New York Lungs
Slavena Salve NissanNew York City, NY, USA do i have new york lungs like you?the same bits of black in my upper lobes?i sure hope i doi want my beloved cityto leave its mark in methe way it did in youafter that first time that we cut into you(how strange it is to say that)i…
-
Kirkleatham Hospital
Stephen MartinMahasarakham Art and architecture in historic almshouses provided aesthetic pleasure, improved self-esteem and attended to spiritual need. An example of early Enlightenment philanthropy in the English village of Kirkleatham, Cleveland, provides major humanitarian lessons for the planners of today. East Cleveland was used to progressive thinking. A remarkable socio-geographical commentary on the area was…
-
Episteme and translation in an annotated copy of the Canon of Medicine by Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)
Sang Ik SongAdam S. KomorowskiLimerick, Ireland Processes of translation in European medieval medical episteme The episteme and movement of knowledge of medieval medicine in Europe is a syncretic, multifarious complexity that is often difficult to unravel. Medieval history in and of itself is a rarefied field where a good grasp of multiple languages and a…
-
The morbid poet: Gottfried Benn, the morgue and the mysterious postcard
Annette TuffsHeidelberg, Germany “Worst of all: not to die in summer, when everything is bright and the earth is easy on the spade.” So wrote the German poet Gottfried Benn (1886–1956), three years before his death, in the poem “What’s Bad”.1 But if the wrong timing of one’s death is the very worst thing, what…
-
Fog
Nicholas FeinbergNew York City, New York, United States Outside their window, the sky is dark and the streets are empty. Fog slides off the lake and turns the pavement slick and black. The wet air is a blanket that quiets the city. Silence fills the space between the buildings and pours into the bedroom where…