Tag: Fall 2015
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A musical vision: the eyes of Bach and Handel
Vincent P. de LuiseNew Haven, Connecticut, United States George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach, the towering musical giants of the Baroque, were both coincidently born in Germany about a month apart, in 1685. They also shared the musical style distinctive of the high Baroque characterized by the masterful use of counterpoint and fugal composition.…
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Oliver Sacks and seeing beyond synecdoche
Colleen DonnellyDenver, Colorado Thus she was a ‘moron’, ‘fool’, a ‘booby’, or so had appeared and so been called, throughout her whole life, but one with an unexpected, strangely moving, poetic power. Superficially she was a mass of handicaps and incapacities, with the intense frustrations and anxieties attendant on these; at this level she was, and…
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Oppression in nursing practice
Denise PasiekaEdmonton, Alberta, Canada Oppression is the dehumanization of another and is often viewed as a negative result of power. It occurs when there are efforts to reduce, confine, and discipline people into subordination.1 Oppressive behaviours are noted in nursing practice today but are often not questioned; instead, they are accepted as innate truth and the…
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Sugar High and Low
Ruth DemingWillow Grove, Pennsylvania, United States On one of the hottest Augusts on record my daughter and I sat mopping our brows in the famous White Dog café. We had walked from Thirtieth Street Station in Philadelphia to this, our occasional meeting place. She was from Brooklyn and was my closest confidante. From my backpack,…
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The end of sight at the end of life
Vincent de Luise Physicians find it difficult to confront and accept end-of-life issues in their patients because their professional education and ethos inform them to do all they can do to treat disease and prolong life. This is particularly difficult for ophthalmologists, who for decades have proudly trumpeted their splendid victories over various causes of…
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Death as it should be
Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece I had never talked with my father about his death. Even though he had had numerous and regular transactions with medicine since my penultimate year in medical school, he never touched this particular subject and I would not be the one to bring it up. Despite my training and professional involvement with…
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The humanities in a traditional medical school
P. Ravi ShankarAruba, Kingdom of the Netherlands Having been involved with medical humanities for over eight years in medical schools in Nepal and Aruba, I began to think about my own medical education in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The term medical humanities was not in vogue in India during those days, and only…
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The girl with the name of a flower
Anthony PapagiannisThessaloniki, Greece It had been a placid day and I was anticipating a quiet evening at the office. My schedule only listed three patient appointments, an hour’s work at the most. Even allowing for the occasional last-minute visitor, all should be fine, with plenty of time to spare. A chance to go home early…