Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Atara Messinger

  • Margaret Edson’s W;t: Lessons on person-centered care

    Atara MessingerToronto, Ontario, Canada American playwright Margaret Edson’s 1998 play W;t has been described as “ninety minutes of suffering and death mitigated by a pelvic exam and a lecture on seventeenth-century poetry.”1 When W;t was first published, most theater companies rejected it on the grounds that its subject matter would be too difficult for audiences…

  • “The GBM in Room 9”: On the objectifying power of naming and diagnosing

    Atara MessingerToronto, Ontario, Canada I wheeled the patient through the double doors into the operating room. As I parked the hospital bed next to the operating table, I quickly glanced at the patient’s chart. NAME: ‘J.’ AGE: 28. HISTORY: Progressive headaches, visual changes, and right-sided weakness. IMAGING: MRI of the brain shows contrast-enhancing mass with…