Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Category: Education

  • In a scan, darkly

    Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece Every so often I browse through old patient records and before committing them to the shredder I read through the histories they contain. These visits to the past are useful and edifying, allowing a more detached consideration of the events. Has something changed in medical knowledge since then? Do the diagnosis and…

  • Thomas Jefferson’s medical schools

    John EhrhardtPatrick O’LearyMiami, Florida, United States Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States of America, devoted much of his life to science, medicine, and education. Entering the College of William & Mary at sixteen, he was mentored in science and philosophy by Professor William Small. Though Jefferson…

  • Aequanimitas and apathy

    Lee W. EschenroederCharlottesville, Virginia On May 1, 1889, Sir William Osler, one of the greatest clinicians and educators of all time, stood before students at the University of Pennsylvania and delivered the valedictory address “Aequanimitas.” Since that day equanimity, or “imperturbability” as Osler also named it, has become one of the most prized qualities of…

  • Empathy for medical students

    David JeffreyEdinburgh, United Kingdom On a windy corner of Drummond Street, not far from Rutherford’s pub in Edinburgh, there is a small bronze plaque with these words: “And when I remembered all that I hoped and feared as I pickled about Rutherford’s in the rain and the east wind; how I feared I should be…

  • Medicine’s old-school technology

    Katie TaylorSan Francisco, CA I am six months into my first year of residency as a doctor. And my experience so far has been sorrowfully screen-dominated. If aliens were to come down and observe a day in the life, I am afraid they’d assume the computer is the patient and the patient’s room the place…

  • Suicide in medical school

    Trevor KleeCambridge, MA, United States Depression and suicide are difficult subjects to write about because they are unpleasant and have at least a faint tinge of moral failure. Moreover, the enormity of the feelings involved dwarfs the attempts to portray them in writing. Perhaps the best written description of suicidal ideation comes from David Foster…

  • The missing chapter in our curriculum

    Alexandra AdamsHershey, Pennsylvania A fourteen-year-old girl, large with child, presented to her community health center in northern Uganda. Blood was rushing down her legs, and she was doubled over in pain. Immediately, the medical officer called the ambulance. Tears ran down the girl’s face—she never wanted this baby. She had asked the nurses to help…

  • When empathy strikes and the curtain falls

    Yasmine KoukazPhiladelphia, PA, United States One slow November afternoon, while sitting in an advisory dean’s meeting about the countless items I needed to add to my resume before applying to residency, I received a surprise in my inbox. It was an email about a fifteen-week theater course that would be held on campus (how convenient!),…

  • Using book clubs in higher education

    William PensonUnited Kingdom In higher education, professors are encouraged to blend teaching with a range of approaches. One such approach might be found in the use of book clubs or, as they are sometimes called, literature circles. Book clubs are a relatively recent social phenomenon with a range of groups springing up in libraries, bookshops,…

  • Observing the human condition: Letters and case reports

    Thomas PapadimosColumbus, Ohio, United States From time to time medical students and residents ask me to mentor them in regard to the exploration of a research topic. My retort is that I do not consider myself a researcher, even though I engage in scholarly endeavors. I tell them that I am a writer, and emphasize…