Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Medical students

  • Because of their race

    Ceres Alhelí Otero PenicheMexico City, Mexico When in 1948 the National Party came to power in South Africa, the all-white government put into effect the racial segregation laws known as apartheid. The non-white population was forced to live, work, and spend their free time in separate neighborhoods. This divided the country’s population into four main…

  • I’m not a good man or a bad man, I just follow orders

    Luisa Alanís Sáenz Mexico City, Mexico   A veces siento que soy mayoría (Sometimes I feel like I am the majority). Artwork by Diane Wilke. Used with permission.  “Shoot, they told me. I obeyed. I’ve always been obedient. By obedience I conquered my high rank … I’m not a good man or a bad man…

  • The fainting medical student

    Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden   Abandoned. Painting by James Tissot, c.1881–2. Via Bridgeman Images on Fine Art America. Public domain. “Fall backward if you faint, and not across the patient.”1 – Surgeon Sir Lancelot Sprat, in the film Doctor in the House   The squeamishness of the beginning medical student or intern during the dissection…

  • A day in the team room

    Kirin SaintAnn Arbor, MI Today is Monday, May 2. The day starts before the sun has risen, before pink-lavender hues warm the earth, as two internal medicine interns slink in, yawning and bleary eyed, careful not to spill their coffee onto their well-worn scrubs. The residents stride into the room, greet one another, lament the…

  • The “weak” intern

    Htet Khine Reno, Nevada, United States   Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash “She is quite weak,” I overheard two senior residents say about one of my co-interns. I tried to tune out the conversation—I did not have enough time or mental capacity to comprehend what being “weak” entailed. I was busy writing notes, answering…

  • An essential attitude of the heart

    Florence Gelo Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States   Andy Warhol, 1970. By Alice Neel. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Timothy Collins. Digital image © Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY I project an image of the painting, Andy Warhol, on the screen in the medical school classroom.…

  • Research opportunities for medical students and residents

    Edward Tabor Washington, DC, United States   Portrait of W. T. O Forssmann from an unknown French newspaper. Wellcome Collection. (CC BY 4.0) Medical residents who engage in scientific research obtain numerous advantages that may enhance their careers. They acquire analytical skills, refine their critical thinking, and may develop better future training opportunities. Unfortunately, scientific…

  • “Gentlemen! This is no humbug.”

    Summer A. NiaziJack E. RiggsMorgantown, West Virginia, United States The words “Gentlemen! This is no humbug” is one of the most famous statements in the history of medicine.1 They were supposedly uttered by the surgeon John Collins Warren on October 16, 1846, following the first public demonstration of an operation using ether inhalation anesthesia. Yet…

  • The revolution of Abraham Flexner and its aftermath

    Picture of Abraham Flexner. From The World’s Work, 1910, by W. M. Hollinger. Via Wikimedia. 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…

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

    Florence Gelo Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Alice Neel Self-Portrait. Alice Neel. 1980. Oil on canvas. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © Estate of Alice Neel, 1980. 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…