Year: 2020
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Sergei Rachmaninoff: The dichotomy of life and music
Michael YafiChaden YafiHouston, Texas, United States Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), a Russian composer, was known for having very large hands. With a span that covered twelve white keys on the keyboard (the interval of a thirteenth), he could play a left-hand chord of C, E flat, G, C, and G.1 This has led some medical experts…
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Botulism: From pork sausages to Botox
Of the various kinds of food poisoning that afflict mankind, botulism is the most dangerous. It has likely occurred for many centuries, as shown by sundry dietary laws such as the prohibition of making blood sausages in the tenth century in the Byzantine Empire. At the end of the eighteenth century several outbreaks of so-called…
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Carlos J. Finlay: The mosquito man
Enrique Chaves-Carballo Kansas City, Kansas, United States Portrait Dr. Carlos J. Finlay. From Images History of Medicine (IHM), National Library of Medicine. Carlos Juan Finlay was born in Puerto Príncipe (now Camagüey), Cuba, on December 3, 1833. He was sent to Europe to complete his secondary education but was forced to return to Cuba after…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…