Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Australian Aboriginal women

  • From Epidaurus to the hospital ward

    Elizabeth PrempehGermany Patients often arrive in our emergency room with vague somatic complaints—general weakness, body pain, even psychogenic non-epileptic seizures—yet every single lab and study comes back normal. I have come to understand how large a role stress plays, and how essential it is to… Read more

  • The transcendental benefit of cadaveric dissection

    Samuel CarterCincinnati, Ohio, United States The poet William Blake opens his poem “Auguries of Innocence” with the lines: To see a World in a Grain of SandAnd a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.1 An… Read more

  • Wuthering Heights: Is love a terminal disease?

    Sufyaan MohammedBuckinghamshire, United Kingdom Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights portrays the character Catherine Earnshaw as enthralled by an all-consuming, passionate, insurmountable, and destructive love. But is love really the root cause of her tragic death? The intensity and impact of the legendary affair between Heathcliff and… Read more

  • Kyrgyzstan: Splendor in mountainous Central Asia

    We learn from the delightful YouTube travel series by Matt and Julia (who made Kyrgyzstan’s capital their permanent home) that Bishkek is a great place to enjoy a pleasant life. It has elegant wide streets, imposing monuments, and restaurants where smartly dressed, polite young people… Read more

  • Uzbekistan: The miracle between the two rivers

    The student of ancient history, of the old Persian Empire and of the exploits of Alexander the Great, will recognize the two rivers bounding modern Uzbekistan as the Oxus, now Amu Darya, and the Jaxartes, now the Syr Darya. He will have read about the… Read more

  • Turkmenistan, old and new

    Turkmenistan is a land of deserts, caravan routes, and enormous natural gas reserves. It became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. Most of the country lies within the Karakum or “Black Sand” Desert, where human settlement developed chiefly around oases and river valleys. In… Read more

  • Mali: History and healthcare

    Mali is a landlocked African country that, like other former French colonies, occasionally makes international headlines for coups, often led by army officers and involving foreign powers. The Niger River enters it from the southern tropical savannas, runs deep into the Sahara Desert, and changes… Read more

  • Sebastian: Plague saint

    Christopher DuffinLondon, England As is true for the legends of many medieval saints, details of the life of Saint Sebastian (died c. 286) rely heavily on the account of Jacobus da Varagine (also Jacopo de Fazio; c. 1230–1298). Born in Varagine (now Varezza), around 30… Read more

  • The freedom to matter

    Mustafa Çalıkİzmir, Türkiye I met Mr. Denise in late autumn during a clinical rotation on a busy hospitalist service. He was a former high school history teacher, a detail he offered not with pride, but with the resignation of a man whose identity had been… Read more

  • On Panizza, Panizzi, and more

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Panizza is an Italian surname originating primarily from Lombardy and Piedmonte, derived from the Latin panis (bread) and designating a baker or someone associated with the grain trade. Variations of the name include Panizzi, Pane, Panini, Panigada, and Panetta. Paolo Panizza1,2… Read more

  • The one-eyed man of Epidaurus and the history of symblepharon

    David MaskillLeeds, United Kingdom At the sanctuary of Asklepios in Epidaurus, four limestone stelae preserve around seventy clinical vignettes from the fourth century BC: the Iamata (ἴαματα) or “remedies.” Pilgrims here underwent enkoimesis (ἐγκοίμησις), an incubation sleep (perhaps induced by the opium found among the… Read more

  • AI and the language of medicine

    Elena IliadisWashington, D.C., United States The better part of medical school, I would argue, is learning to speak the language. The language of medicine is nuanced: there is language of diagnosis and of prescribing, language between medical professionals, and importantly, language within the physician-patient relationship.… Read more