Month: March 2018
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The journey into the blue
Annette TuffsHeidelberg, Germany “And when I came back – I did not return. You are never the same person you were, when you left.” Thus wrote Alfred Döblin (1878–1957) in 1946, in the newspaper Badische Zeitung in Freiburg,1 a few months after ending his forced absence of twelve years in France and California. The German…
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Family encounters with pathogens 100 years apart
Meredith WrightNew York City, New York, United States After my mother died, I became obsessed with preserving family memories and learning as many stories as I could, with the knowledge that most were likely already lost along with her. While sorting through her desk for family memorabilia I came across my great-grandmother’s unpublished memoir. I…
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Death and dignity – a lesson learned from my father
Dhastagir SheriffChennai, Tennessee, India I was working as a professor of biochemistry and as the vice-principal of faculty at the Ambedkar Medical College in Bangalore. It was a welcome change after working in Libya for ten years and I was bubbling with energy and ambition to serve the cause of education. I felt that a…
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Healing in post-genocide Rwanda
Vigneshwar SubramanianNivetha SubramanianCleveland, Ohio, United States In April 1994, one of the largest genocides since the Holocaust erupted in Rwanda as the Hutu ethnic majority conducted a targeted slaughter of the Tutsi people.1 In a span of just over 100 days, over 800,000 people were killed.2 Infectious diseases such as HIV ran rampant, a consequence…
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Welcome another Earth-dweller
Ndembou C. Jean-LouisBafut, Cameroon “Doctor, we have a thirty-eight-year-old lady, recently injured, having difficulties bearing down. And her baby’s heart rate is not the best,” a harried sounding nurse gushed over the phone. I groaned inwardly and reassured her I would arrive at the maternity ward in about ten minutes. I instructed her to continue…
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“Marvailous Cures”: Sympathetic medicine connecting Europe and China
Richard de GrijsSydney, AustraliaDaniel VuillerminBeijing, China In Renaissance Europe the concept of curing illnesses at a distance did not seem as outlandish as it would today. A newfound interest in classical remedies at a time when new plants were being found in the Americas and Asia ushered in an interest in pharmacological experimentation but also…
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The legacy of Mercy Street Seekers
Ananya MahapatraNew Delhi, India “In my dream, drilling into the marrow of my entire bone, my real dream, I’m walking up and down Beacon Hill searching for a street sign – namely MERCY STREET. Not there.” —Anne Sexton1 In October 1974, Anne Sexton, the American poet famous for her signature style confessional poetry, committed suicide.…
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Provider empathy: a patient’s tale
Jacklyn MunnArlington, Virginia, United States In the practice of medicine, empathy may be the greatest prescription of all. It can provide a patient with confidence, comfort, and the understanding that their healthcare provider knows them as an individual, not just a series of diagnoses and treatments. It creates an opportunity for providers to establish trust…
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The hidden history of Lomidine
Sophia NewmanChicago, Illinois, United States The shot against sleeping sickness brought me so many problemsThe shot against sleeping sickness hurt me so…They pricked me in the back…And still, they want to send me to draw waterIf I try to slow my stepThe policeman hits me on the head with a stick.1 This song, originally sung…