2019 - Hektoen International

The Rh factor: An intertwined history

December 31, 2019

Paula Carter Chicago, Illinois Lucy Reyburn Rittgers and two of her daughters, circa 1948. Source: Family photo In 1924, Lucy Reyburn gave birth to her first child, a daughter she named Darlene. Lucy lived in Iowa and the birth was an embarrassment. She had become pregnant and hurriedly married a man who left before […]

Blood is NOT the essence of life?

December 31, 2019

Mair Zamir London, Ontario, Canada Figure 1. Vasculature of the human heart in an anterior view (right) and posterior view (left). This massive vascular network brings blood to within reach of every cell within the heart tissue. It is the most densely packed vascular network within the body because of the very high metabolic […]

The legacy and maladies of Jonathan Swift

December 24, 2019

JMS Pearce England, UK Fig 1. Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (Fig 1.) is best known for his popular Lemuel Gulliver’s: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World published in 1726. (Fig 2.) Exciting adventures combine with satirical metaphors that parodied contemporary customs and politics. Lemuel Gulliver, the narrator, begins as a modern man […]

Brief encounters

December 23, 2019

Anthony Papagiannis Thessaloniki, Greece Quicksilver in blue. Photo by Anthony Papagiannis. Doctor-patient relationships are as unique as the potential pairs of doctors and patients. At one end of the spectrum there is the one-time encounter, usually for some straightforward and self-limiting problem: the doctor may never see the patient again. At the other extreme, […]

Theme

December 20, 2019

TRAVEL AND MEDICINE Published in December, 2019 H E K T O R A M A . DOCTOR MOORE IN ITALY Moore, a practicing physician in Glasgow with a good reputation, was offered an opportunity to travel. Like other prominent noblemen of his day, the young Duke of Hamilton was […]

Moses Maimonides—physician and philosopher

December 19, 2019

Photo by David Baron. CC BY-SA 2.0 The great Hebrew scholar and physician Moses Maimonides was born in Cordoba, Spain, ca.1135. Pupil of the famous Ibn Rushd (Averroes), he became like his teacher a polymath, writing about ethics, metaphysics, religious law, and even astronomy. Much of his medical knowledge was acquired in Fez, Morocco, where […]

Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—The Chicago Maternity Center

December 17, 2019

Peter Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Image by Stephanie Pratt from Pixabay My group and I were assigned to the Chicago Maternity Center at the end of the obstetrics in November 1955. Despite the recent training at Michael Reese, nothing could have prepared me for […]

Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—Clerkships at Michael Reese Hospital

December 17, 2019

Peter Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Michael Reese Hospital. Postcard by Curt Teich. 1950. No known copyright for Curt Teich postcards printed before 1964. After Cook County, my group and I moved over to Michael Reese Hospital—a pile of old buildings on the […]

Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—Clerkship at Cook County Hospital

December 17, 2019

Peter H. Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Post Mortem Examination by Prof. Ludvig Hektoen at the Cook County Morgue Chicago Ill. March 3rd 1897. Photographer unknown. Ward 64, the only female medical ward at Cook County Hospital, was to be the home base for […]

Becoming a doctor in Chicago (c.1954)—The Chicago Medical School

December 17, 2019

Peter Berczeller Edited by Paul Berczeller An excerpt from Dr. Peter Berczeller’s memoir, The Little White Coat. Compound monocular microscope. Graduated grey background. Credit: Science Museum, London. CC BY 4.0. Chicago Med was the poor relation among the medical schools ringing Cook County Hospital. The sooty three-story building was dwarfed by the high rises of […]