Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Book review of “All manner of ingenuity and industry”: a bio-bibliography of Dr. Thomas Willis 1621-1675

  • The lady in red

    Mary Liz OvercashGalveston, Texas, United States The long-term care facility was tucked in the back of a strip mall, behind restaurants and sporting goods stores, as if someone had hidden it away. As I wandered through the halls looking for my patient’s room, I didn’t… Read more

  • Denis Burkitt, surgeon and epidemiologist (1911–1993)

    At the age of forty-three, Denis Burkitt acquired eponymous immortality by having an important disease named after him. Born in Northern Ireland in 1911, he received an early education in a highly religious family that emphasized prayer, study of the Bible, and service to others.… Read more

  • Dr. William Shippen, surgeon and educator in colonial America

    William Shippen Jr. (1736–1808) was a prominent medical person in early American history. Born in Philadelphia in 1736, he came from a well-connected family and received his training at the University of Edinburgh, at the time considered the best medical school in the English-speaking world.… Read more

  • Mercury poisoning and the death of John Wilkes Booth

    Matthew D. TurnerHershey, Pennsylvania, United StatesJason SappJoint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, United States Introduction On April 26, 1865, twenty-six soldiers of the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment surrounded a barn on the Garrett farm in Virginia. Hiding within the barn were two refugees, one of them… Read more

  • The bizarre history of the bezoar

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “As for the bezoar [we removed] …we have restricted ourselves from employing its therapeutic power in the practice of medicine.”1– John Moffat, M.D. A bezoar is a compact mass of material that may be found in the digestive tract of mammals, including… Read more

  • Endurance

    Anthony Papagiannis Thessaloniki, Greece One of the things we learn in medicine, not from books but from the daily encounters with patients over the years, and which never stops pleasantly surprising us, is man’s endurance in all kinds of adversity and hardship, including serious health… Read more

  • Credé’s maneuver

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (1819–1892) was a German gynecologist and obstetrician born in Berlin. In 1852, he became director of the Berlin School of Midwives and head of the maternity division of the Berlin Charité Hospital. Later, he moved to Leipzig.… Read more

  • Self-regulation in peril

    Yasmina Rebani-LeeNew York, New York, United States One day on my walk home, I began to tally up the number of vapor shops, or vape shops, I came across. To my dismay, I found that four of these shops had sprouted within a five-block radius,… Read more

  • Marshmallows

    John Graham-PoleClydesdale, Nova Scotia, Canada The writer E.B. White accused our society of being suspicious of anything non-serious. Thank the stars, then, for humour. I had a teenage patient with advanced cancer tell me after I had given him some none too hopeful news: “Lighten… Read more

  • Medicine and religion in ancient Egypt

    Gigi TaymourLondon, England Through the stability of ancient Egyptian society, governmental system, and organized economy, medical knowledge advanced rapidly.1 The Egyptians successfully integrated complex healthcare practices with religion, botanical cures, and surgical procedures. Although some scholars have argued that religious beliefs may have hindered the… Read more

  • Teaching social determinants of health through art

    Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States When teaching medical students, I often incorporate works of art to introduce students to social determinants of health and to gain insight into the nature and importance of whole person care, the physical, behavioral, emotional, social, and spiritual factors that… Read more

  • Physician associates and independent prescribers

    JMS PearceHull, England A recent high-profile death in London has led to doctors’ concerns about medical associate professions.1,2 A thirty-year-old woman died from a pulmonary embolism after seeing a physician associate (PA). This led to the case being discussed widely in the media, on social… Read more