Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Medical education

  • Principles and Practice of Medicine: Sir Stanley Davidson

    JMS Pearce Hull, England   Davidson’s The Principles & Practice of Medicine, 1956 edition. A textbook of medicine is a single work covering all the major specialist topics, aimed principally at the undergraduate medical student. What constitutes a good textbook of medicine is plainly a subjective judgment; it would be invidious to select one of…

  • The middle zone

    Alfred DavidPort Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria What sacrifices must be made in order to practice medicine? Choosing to study medicine is never a choice that should made lightly. The scope of knowledge in its various disciplines is vast, requiring an immense amount of dedication and attention to detail. Finances, social life, and a portion of one’s…

  • Neurophobia or neuroavoidance: a student or educator issue?

    Kelsey AndrewsJack Riggs Morgantown, West Virginia, United States “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”– Albert Einstein   Jozefowicz introduced a new term in neurology education literature in 1994, defining “neurophobia” as “a fear of the neurosciences and clinical neurology that is due to the student’s inability…

  • The secret medical school in the Warsaw Ghetto

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden In September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The invaders quickly started to repress the Jews of Poland and confiscate their property and businesses. In November 1940, the Jews of Warsaw were confined to a walled-in area of about three-and-one-half square kilometers. About 400,000 to 500,000 people, the second largest Jewish community in…

  • An essential attitude of the heart

    Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States I project an image of the painting, Andy Warhol, on the screen in the medical school classroom. I am quiet for a minute. I then invite students to look at the painting and compose a list of what they see. Twelve students are present. Five minutes later, I notice four…

  • The use of television series in medical education

    Gulmira DerbissalinaNur-Sultan city, Kazakhstan Medically themed television series are popular among future doctors. Students and trainees can imagine their future work, including the clinical setting, relationships with colleagues and superiors, communication with patients and their relatives, and consultations and advice from senior doctors. I use medical series with my students as a way to discuss…

  • The year gross anatomy faced the scalpel

    Michael DenhamNew York, New York, United States As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in early 2020, anatomy departments across the United States struggled to develop contingency plans to continue training the country’s future physicians. Would this year’s class of 22,239 medical students be the first in American history who could not learn gross anatomy on cadavers?…

  • The revolution of Abraham Flexner and its aftermath

    Unlike his brother Simon, who became a celebrated infectious diseases specialist and director of the Rockefeller Institute, Abraham Flexner was mainly interested in culture and education. He also grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, where his father had ended up after an odyssey that had taken him from Bohemia to Strasbourg, to New York, to New…

  • Best friends for never

    Ariya MobarakiPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States I stand looking over you, Wishing I could turn back time. Wondering what wisdom you would give me, Back in your prime. You opened yourself up to me, In a way that most of my friends cannot. A part of you that was intrinsic to your life, Means more to…

  • “Looking at … Looking away”: A challenging and vital skill

    Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USA For nearly a decade, I have used images of paintings to teach students in health care professions how to cultivate the skills of looking while learning to recognize their own feelings and those of others. Most recently, I have been concerned with how emotions compel us to look away. Inspired by…