Tag: Fall 2012
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Fish story
Tim Chapman Chicago, Illinois, United States You can get to know a person pretty well when you’re helping them wipe their ass. My name is Ernie Fischetti. I was named after “Mr. Cub,” Ernie Banks. I used to hate the Cubs. In fact, until this year, I hated baseball altogether. I hated hearing guys talk about…
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The midwives of San Gimignano, 1336
Mary A. Osborne Chicago, Illinois, United States Before the story line for Alchemy’s Daughter flew into my imagination, the idea of writing historical fiction had not occurred to me. I had penned a number of short stories, often inspired by my experiences as a home care nurse, and two semiautobiographical novels that no publisher wanted.…
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Apple tree – Baby poems
Jeanne BrynerCortland, Ohio, United States Poet’s statement Working in pediatrics, I find children’s bodies/spirits revealed in nature and my art. A child’s presence brings light to a room and hope to our world. Apple treeHere, in the backyard, beyondthe clothesline where I hangmy sheets, my eyes are drawnto the dwarf,the orphan apple tree,one arm bent…
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The Montreal Children’s Hospital
Barry PlessMontreal, Canada Hospitals are more than bricks and mortar. The Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH) is no exception. Like all famous hospitals, there is little about the buildings themselves that warrant acclaim. It is the accomplishments and contributions of the staff that make them respected. Accordingly, this account focuses on some of those who have…
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“How the Poor Die” by George Orwell, 1946
The next moment . . . the doctor and the students came across to my bed, hoisted me upright and without a word began applying the same set of glasses, which had not been sterilized in any way. A few feeble protests that I uttered got no more response than if I had been an…
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Death lullabies in Russian culture
Tatiana NovikovaRussia Traditionally, the lullaby has been defined as a sweet, gentle song that a mother sings to coax her child to sleep. It is generally seen as a strong bonding experience for both mother and child, through which the child receives a powerful charge of emotions. In Russian folklore, however, there is a genre…
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Ludwik Fleck, physician in Lwow Ghetto
George M. WeiszSydney, AustraliaAndrzej GrzybowskiPoland Dr. Ludwik Fleck, a pioneer in the early diagnosis of infectious diseases, was born in 1896 in Lwow, then known as Lemberg and until World War I, part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Graduating from Lwow University Medical School, Dr. Fleck became interested in medical research and by 1931 had made…
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History of nephrology: beginnings
George DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States Introduction In the second half of the 20th century nephrology became a fully-fledged specialty owing largely to the development of renal biopsy, dialysis, and kidney transplantation.1 Yet the seeds of these great advances were sown centuries earlier, based on the work and observations of scientists and clinicians dating to the…
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When angels sing
Mary SommersChicago, Illinois, United States All living things have a natural urge to sing. Humans and other mammals, birds, insects, and even the great, extinct woolly mammoth sing special songs to call their children home. Though singing is universal, many people feel uncomfortable singing, as if we’ll be judged the moment we expose our voices.…