Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Month: July 2017

  • The curious tale of Leonardo Da Vinci and the spherical uterus

    John MassieParkville, Victoria, Australia Leonardo Da Vinci had one of the greatest minds in history. Accomplished in so many fields of both the arts and science, he challenged contemporary thinking, and was one of the early Renaissance artists to use dissection of corpses in order to understand the human form. His anatomical drawings reveal a…

  • Death by Dysentery? Artist Frank Russell Wadsworth in Madrid

    Sally Metzler Chicago, Illinois, United States   Frank Russell Wadsworth (1874-1905) A River Lavadero, 1905, Oil on canvas, Union League Club Chicago Though he basked in the Spanish sun, the summer warmth would be his downfall, indeed his early death. Artist Frank Russell Wadsworth of Chicago gravitated towards the vivid colors and picturesque river banks…

  • Thomas Jefferson’s medical schools

    John EhrhardtPatrick O’LearyMiami, Florida, United States Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States of America, devoted much of his life to science, medicine, and education. Entering the College of William & Mary at sixteen, he was mentored in science and philosophy by Professor William Small. Though Jefferson…

  • Breathing

    Laura Anne WhiteRochester, MN, USA Author’s statement: I wrote this poem on a piece of scrap paper around five am, towards the end of a night shift. About fifteen minutes after coming into work that evening, a patient of mine who had been somnolent struggled to breathe. Moments like this have a way of grounding…