Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: How doctors actually decide

  • The deaths of the Romantic poets

    The deaths of John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron, all occurring within five years of each other, form a tragic trilogy in the history of English Romantic poetry. Each died young, and their ends reflect the turbulence, idealism, and fragility that marked their… Read more

  • József Antall: Hungarian medical historian and political leader

    Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England In the Taban region of Budapest, at the foot of the castle district of the city outside the Semmelweis Museum of Medical History, stands a statue of József Antall, a famous medical historian who became the first democratically elected Prime Minister… Read more

  • What the elders fed us

    Caleb WamangaKakamega, Kenya Before the rain starts, the vine creeps across the yard. Mboga ya kienyeji (traditional vegetable), the green leaf that rounded off a meal, was what we called them. It is a gift that is never announced, never wrapped, but always there when… Read more

  • The medical interests of Sir Walter Raleigh

    Christopher DuffinLondon, England Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618; Fig. 1) was a prominent character in Elizabethan England. A one-time favorite of the Queen, he led a rich and varied life as an adventurer and explorer, statesman, soldier, and author. Less well-known is his interest in alchemy… Read more

  • The “Blue Death:” Cholera’s reign of terror

    Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia Cholera—the “Blue Death” and, in the words of one witness, “one of the most ghastly experiences a disease could inflict on a human being”1—emerged in the early 1800s from the Ganges delta, traveling along the routes of global trade2 and religious… Read more

  • Gustav Klimt (1862–1918): Medical aspects

    The renowned Austrian painter Gustav Klimt lived and worked in Vienna during a period of unprecedented medical advances. The capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had become a world center for innovation in clinical medicine, therapeutics, and surgery. It had also become the site of a… Read more

  • V.V. Veresaev, another forgotten physician-author

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Dr. Veresaev was born in Tula as Vikenty Vikentyevich Smidowitz in 1867, son of a famous Polish-Catholic physician father and a Russian mother. Raised and educated in Russia, his father established a free-of-charge hospital in Tula. First to introduce sanitary and… Read more

  • The very prejudiced H.L. Mencken and his medical views

    A century has gone by since Henry Louis Mencken wrote his diatribes, some of which he actually called Prejudices, now highly distasteful and taboo. He himself was born in Baltimore in 1880, spoke only German as a child, and during both wars thought the Germans… Read more

  • Dr. George Finlayson and his mighty little squirrel

    Stephen MartinThailand Part of running a museum in tropical Thailand is caring for distressed animals on the grounds. We have no choice, because the nearest wildlife rehabbers are in California. Sunshine drives life, so Thailand has a gloriously rich natural history. The museum’s animal patients… Read more

  • How curious should we be?

    Sam WoodworthPortland, Maine, United States Nearly a decade since graduating from medical school, some of the most enduring memories from that formative time are recollections of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as a first-year medical student. Led by a young… Read more

  • Childhood cancer: Where my shadow fell

    John Graham-PoleAntigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada  In this essay, I reflect on my journey as a pediatric oncologist—from a time when childhood cancer was nearly always fatal to the gradual emergence of cures. Drawing on personal experiences with patients and their families, I examine the medical… Read more

  • Vienna’s Volksgarten: A floral historical haven

    The Volksgarten, or “People’s Garden” is a public park known for its formal rose gardens, neoclassical elegance, and historical depth. Established in the early 19th century, it is one of Vienna’s most beloved green spaces, offering aesthetic pleasure and cultural enrichment. It was created on… Read more