Month: October 2020
-
The Siege
Glen P. Aylward Springfield, Illinois, United States The Siege reflects the battle society is currently waging against a formidable adversary—COVID-19. The colors indicate fear and frustration, but also hope. Front-line medical personnel wearing PPE are depicted in the background. The painting is acrylic on canvas. GLEN P. AYLWARD, Ph.D., ABPP, is a Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics…
-
Parkinson’s
Glen P. Aylward Springfield, Illinois, United States In Parkinson’s, the colors express the emotional intensity and frustration experienced by those with Parkinson’s Disease, while the inflammation and anatomic components of the disease are also depicted by the shapes. I have experienced these emotions and symptoms since my diagnosis of PD 8 years ago. The painting is…
-
Notes on a first abortion
Henry Bair Stanford, California, United States The first time I saw a late-term abortion by dilation and evacuation, I was surprised that it was a fairly minor procedure. I was to observe the termination at twenty-three weeks of gestation as part of my obstetrics-gynecology rotation, and while the procedure can be performed in a clinic rather…
-
Not as a Stranger: The desperate medical student
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden In order to study medicine, a future doctor needs motivation, some intelligence, a medical school, and the ability to pay for the education. Morton Thompson’s 1954 novel Not As a Stranger follows a young man through childhood, medical school, and beyond. A film based on the book was released in 1955, and…
-
Coleridge and the albatross syndrome
Nicolás Roberto Robles Badajoz, Spain Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the tenth and last child of the vicar of Ottery Saint Mary near Devonshire, England, was born on October 21, 1772. In vivid letters recounting his early years he describes himself as “a genuine Sans culotte, my veins uncontaminated with one drop of Gentility.” He had an amazing…
-
“Looking at … Looking away”: A challenging and vital skill
Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USA For nearly a decade, I have used images of paintings to teach students in health care professions how to cultivate the skills of looking while learning to recognize their own feelings and those of others. Most recently, I have been concerned with how emotions compel us to look away. Inspired by…
-
Walter Russell Brain DM FRCP FRS (1895–1966)
JMS Pearce East Yorks, England Russell Brain (Fig 1) was born at Clovelly, Denmark Road, Reading, on 23 October 1895, the only son of Walter John Brain, solicitor, and his wife, Edith Alice. A quiet, reserved man of enormous intellect and integrity, he was revered as an eminent neurologist, philosopher, and author. At Mill Hill School…