Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Black Sea Region

  • Making a difference in the AIDS epidemic

    Sandro VentoPhnom Penh, Cambodia Enzo entered the room with hesitancy. A nurse drew his blood, then moved him to where a young doctor was waiting, looking serious. As he asked Enzo to sit down, he inspired confidence. Enzo answered his initial questions with few words,… Read more

  • Science, wine, and music in Asti

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Back in 1993, while spending a sabbatical in Long Island, a few medical colleagues suggested we meet at a special Italian restaurant called Asti. The restaurant was located at 13 E. 12th St. in Greenwich Village, NYC. It was a unique… Read more

  • María de las Mercedes, the Spanish Romantic queen

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Ya Mercedes está muerta,muerta está, que yo la ví,cuatro duques la llevabanpor las calles de Madrid. Mercedes is already dead,she’s dead, I did saw her,four dukes were her carryingthrough the streets of Madrid.—Popular Spanish song María de la Mercedes de Orleans y… Read more

  • Tonsillectomy, then and now

    The story of tonsillectomy can be traced back to antiquity. As early as 2000 BC, Ayurvedic doctors used primitive tools and herbal remedies to remove their patients’ pus-laden tonsils. In Roman times, Cornelius Celsus (25 BC–50 AD) shelled out tonsils with only his fingers, Galen… Read more

  • Invitation to tea

    Sandra GaynorChicago, Illinois, United States Kena motioned for me to come up to her apartment. I had driven her home from the knitting circle, as I did every Wednesday. This was the third time she had asked me to “come up for tea,” and so… Read more

  • Sulfonamides: The first synthetic antibacterial agents

    Few discoveries in medicine have a more interesting history than the introduction of the sulfonamides into clinical medicine.1 I feel somehow part of this process only because, having suffered from some febrile illness as a little boy, I distinctly remember being given a medicine that… Read more

  • They made their own insulin: The story of Eva and Viktor Saxl

    Ellen DavisChapel Hill, North Carolina, United States Eva Saxl not only saved her own life by making insulin during World War II, but together with her husband Viktor, saved the lives of over 400 people with diabetes in war-torn Shanghai. Her life story has remained… Read more

  • An emergency nurse in the time of Covid

    Kimberly TranchitaChicago, Illinois, United States April 2020 I hug my family and leave for work in the ED. No cars on the road. I stop at McDonald’s to get my free “frontline worker” cup of coffee. I no longer bring my own coffee or anything… Read more

  • Waiting

    Sandra GaynorChicago, Illinois, United States What is waiting? As a child, waiting was, for me, a time to be angry with my father. He found it impossible to be on time for any event. When the rest of the family was dressed and sitting with… Read more

  • Samuel Vaisrub: An unforgettable editor

    Alan BlumTuscaloosa, Alabama, United StatesGeorge DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States In this brief editorial we have collaborated to pay homage to a distinguished man of the last century whom we have both known personally. Samuel Vaisrub, MD, was a prolific editorial writer and the author of… Read more

  • A midnight call

    Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece We are halfway through Advent and looking forward to Christmas. As I am finishing some late-night computer work and seriously thinking about sleep, the cell phone goes off. I recognize the voice of a man I saw recently. His problem is trouble… Read more

  • Paolo Sarpi: Venetian hero, Roman heretic

    Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States Though an obscure figure today, for many years Fra Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623) loomed large in the ecclesiastical, scientific, and political arenas of Europe. Macaulay praised him as his “favorite modern historian,”1 Boswell called him a genius, and Samuel Johnson considered… Read more