Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Michigan

  • Bristol Children’s Hospital and esophageal atresia

    Richard SpicerBristol, United Kingdom Bristol Children’s Hospital The Children’s Hospital in Bristol began as the Free Institution for Diseases of Women and Children in 1857. In 1885 it moved to a purpose-built neo-Gothic building (Fig.1) and continued to treat women and children on the same site until 1940 when bomb damage caused by the Luftwaffe…

  • A brief life

    Andrea Eisenberg Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States I felt his legs wiggling in the sac of warm fluid surrounding him. His body was so tiny, his kicks were like a feather passing across my fingers. But his warm, dark world was about to slip away. Did he already sense it? Or did he swim peacefully, oblivious…

  • The death of Zachary Taylor: The first presidential assassination or a bad bowl of cherries?

    Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States Zachary Taylor was a true Southerner born into a prominent family of plantation owners in Orange County, Virginia, on November 24, 1784, During his childhood his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky. In 1808 he obtained a commission as a first lieutenant in the army. In 1810 he married Margaret…

  • Food as medicine

    Keerthi GondyAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States In my family, food is the language of love. A warm meal is the way we say “I love you.” Whenever I get sick, my mother prepares a pot of spicy turmeric soup and honey lemon tea. When my brother threw a game-winning strike for his baseball team, we…

  • Sir Alexander Fleming: A microbiologist at work and play

    Jayant RadhakrishnanDarien, Illinois, United States Sir Alexander Fleming had many talents. His discoveries of lysozyme in 1923 and in 1928 the antibiotic effect of the fungus Penicillium notatum are well known.1 Less well known is that he was a skilled marksman and a member of the London Scottish Regiment during World War I. There is…

  • Virginia Apgar: Our Jimmy

    Yasaswi ParuchuriMichigan, United States Known for developing the Apgar score, a measurement of newborn management, Dr. Virginia Apgar (1909- 1974) was often the only woman in a room of professional peers. Dr. Apgar developed the scoring strategy, “to find a way to get doctors to pay attention to the baby.”1 Alongside this enduring medical contribution,…