Month: April 2020
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Hippocrates by the bedside
This rather unwell looking patient is being fed or medicated by a physician supposed to be Hippocrates, assisted by a wide-eyed female professional. De regimine acutorum was published in England in the thirteenth century. The image (on the left) is an enlarged historiated initial from the medieval illuminated manuscript (shown on the right). Highlighted Vignette…
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The consultation or last hope, by Thomas Rowlandson (1808)
Five doctors have been called in consultation to see an obese patient suffering from gout. An old nurse on the left is deeply asleep. Several other doctors shown on the right are waiting their turn to give their opinion—in this age when consultation by multiple physicians was the custom. Highlighted Vignette Volume 13, Issue 2–…
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Dr. Arrieta’s lesson: Have we lost something in the gain?
Ariana Shaari New York, New York, United States Figure 1: Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta. 1820. Francisco Goya. Height: 45.1 inches. Width: 30.1 inches. Oil on Canvas. Source. A global pandemic has transformed, almost overnight, the way medical care is delivered. Telemedicine without face-to-face contact has facilitated social distancing, eased the burden on physicians, and…
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Ignes Fatui of the neurotic mind
Ashten R. Duncan Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States Rocking in my vessel sturdy Upon the waters of a swamp so dirty, I am in the crow’s nest En route to my impending test. Ever since I was young, I have been given to the far-flung: Quiet panic of a possible foe, Wishes to never disturb…
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Beauty actualized
Vincent P. De LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut “First of all, move me, surprise me, rend my heart; make me tremble, weep, shudder; outrage me; delight my eyes afterwards if you can . . .”— Denis Diderot What is beauty? Is it a thing or a thought? Can we touch it? Hear it? See it? Or is…
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Stanley Shaldon as I knew him
Stanley Shaldon. Photo by the author. Stanley Shaldon belonged to that first generation of nephrologists who made dialysis available at a time when uremia was a sentence of death. He was one of the bright young registrars whom Professor Sheila Sherlock took with her from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith to the Royal…
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David Bruce, discoverer of brucellosis
Sir David Bruce (1855–1931). Source: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. CC BY 2.0 Early life Every medical student would be expected to know something about brucellosis, though quite unlikely to ever see a case. He would have to know that the disease in man may be caused by the Brucella of goats, swine,…