Morning rounds
Alan Blum Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States During my internship, residency, and fellowship in the late 1970s, I kept a visual journal, filling several notebooks with patients’ stories, clinical vignettes, snippets of overheard conversations, and sketches. The two collages in this gallery, drawn in my usual medium of black ballpoint pen on small index cards, […]
Out of the mouths of moms
Alan Blum Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States For family physicians, even a routine well-baby check-up can be a heart-warming experience. Not only do we hear about the infant’s progress and catch up on things at home, but we also savor the unguarded moments such as those I tried to capture in these sketches. Click on […]
Reading Lacan 1 – Reading Lacan 2 – Identification with the Aggressor
Sean Murphy Chicago, Illinois, United States Created after reading the work of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, Reading Lacan 1 (top) and Reading Lacan 2 (bottom left) capture the abstract nature of his baroque speaking and writing styles. At the same time, they maintain through a bright color palette one goal of psychoanalysis: cure—and with […]
Ladies in hats
Alan Blum Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States I was encouraging an overweight patient in patent leather shoes with two-inch heels to start wearing sneakers instead, when she calmly reached into her totebag and pulled out a pair of Nikes. The pumps, she explained, were her “comin’-to-the-doctor shoes.” Her finest footwear was a sign of respect. […]
Hematoxylin and Eosin Abstraction
Lily Mahler Birmingham, Alabama, United States Hematoxylin and Eosin Abstraction is a watercolor piece inspired by the histopathology of a liver affected by hereditary hemochromatosis. Bands of deep blue iron deposits cut through a verdant garden of hepatocytes in this composition. Hematoxylin and Eosin Abstraction (2020) Lily Mahler, MS4 at University of Alabama School of […]
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. The Siege. Glen P. Aylward. Acrylic on canvas. […]
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 […]
Sanctuary
Bruce Granquist Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States In 2012 I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. I thought this meant that my career as a book illustrator and calligrapher was over. But after making some experiments I realized that the tremor in my right hand allowed me to make much more expressive calligraphic lines than I […]
Effervesce
Catalina Florina Florescu Hoboken, New Jersey, United States Note: Scroll to continue the comic CATALINA FLORINA FLORESCU holds a Ph.D. in Medical Humanities from Purdue University. She is the curator of the New Plays Festival at JCTC. Her next and last book is under contract with Routledge, Female Playwrights Intersectionality in Contemporary Romanian […]
Together, We Are an Ocean
Janet Cai New Brunswick, NJ “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” – Ryunosuke Satoro Together, the individual cells, lamellae, and glands featured in these paintings contribute to a complete functioning body. There is a kind of beauty about the individuality and unity simultaneously exhibited; as physicians, nurses, social workers, […]