Month: May 2019
-
The lost art and the hidden treasure
Jennifer Bingham Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania It is the moment we catch ourselves wishing someone had mentioned how many pieces were in this puzzle that we look up to find progress. Photo by Pixabay from Pexels. The puzzle box is empty and the pieces are scattered across the table. After all, a puzzle was never meant…
-
The night the troubles erupted in Belfast
Alun Evans Belfast, United Kingdom John Daniel Alexander Robb, FRCS (1932-2018) Source: Mr. John Robb When I qualified in medicine at the Queen’s University of Belfast in 1968, Northern Ireland was a curious cocktail of sectarianism and garden parties. I soon discovered that winning the medal in surgery was not such a bright idea…
-
Leaving nothing to the imagination: Casualties Union and post-war first aid training
Jessica Douthwaite London, UK Air raid precaution. Practice, first aid party at work. Credit: Wellcome Collection. CC BY In 1940, a new method for training the emergency services in casualty rescue emerged from the demands of the Second World War.1 Until then, rescue training was perfunctory —neither concerned with recreating representative conditions for trainees,…
-
Climate trauma in Monique Roffey’s Archipelago
Lucille Miao New Jersey, United States Miao, Lucille, “A Leap Forward,” Color Pencil and Acrylic on Paper, 2015 In recent years, the idea of ecological catastrophe has captured the artistic imagination and infiltrated popular culture through novels such as Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife and television series like teen drama The 100 (2014–). These…
-
A traditional practice in baby care: salting
Sinem ÇakaSakarya, TurkeySümeyra TopalKahramanamaras, TurkeyNursan ÇınarSakarya, Turkey In many societies, there are traditional practices performed to protect babies from magic, witchcraft, or the evil eye. At first, it may seem that these practices would have no particular effect on health. Some of these traditions bring psychological relief for the family, but some may delay the…
-
Bibliotheca Sibbaldiana
Colin McDowall Edinburgh, Scotland Figure 1: Sir Robert Sibbald by Willem Verelst or John Alexander. Photo credit: Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh On 5 February 1723 a crowd gathered at the house of the late Sir Robert Sibbald, noted Edinburgh physician, for the auction of his personal library. Sibbald was a considerable collector…
-
Labor of love
Mary OakSeattle, Washington, USA Each week my elderly father and I watch babies being born. In the silver-shadowed flickers of a television, we sit as we often did in my childhood. Now in the spectral shade of his decelerated years, I care for him. He spends a lot of time watching TV. I join him…
-
Balancing empathy
Nora Salisbury Vancouver, BC, Canada Street art in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Photo by Lee Gangbar. I almost fainted on my first clinical day in nursing school. I was invited to watch a catheter insertion. While my gut reaction was to completely avoid it, I knew that as a new student nurse I was supposed…