Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Pediatrician

  • Pediatrics and theatrics

    Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden   Chicago, Illinois. Provident Hospital. Doctors and interns in the cafeteria. Photo by Jack Delano. 1942. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division  1. Initiation. I had had a busy night on call in the city’s largest women’s hospital. I was a second-year pediatric resident assigned to the Neonatal Intensive Care…

  • The curative value of pork

    Howard Fischer Uppsala, Sweden   Photo of a Swedish pig farmer. Gustav Heurlin. From Allers Familj-journal. 1909. Via Wikimedia. The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. — Voltaire   My mother told me the story that when I was a few months old I developed some sort of respiratory…

  • A walk on the pediatric floor

    Elie Najjar St. Nottingham, United Kingdom   Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash I came to the pediatric floor to learn about medicine—the presentation, development, and resolution of diseases—but I found myself learning something that etched itself deeper into my soul. I learned about humanity and the great energy that even in the darkest…

  • William Osler: Clinician and teacher with a pediatric interest

    Göran Wettrell Lund, Sweden   Figure 1. Sir William Osler in Oxford, photo presented by Lady Osler. Sir William Osler has been described as one of the greatest physicians of his time, especially known for his bedside medicine and teaching (Figure 1). He has also been characterized as “a pediatric-minded worker within the widespread wine-yard…

  • The surgery of pyloric stenosis in Chicago

    John Raffensperger Fort Meyers, Florida, United States   Arthur Dean Bevan, MD, FACS, 1861-1943. Circa 1915. From the Archives of the American College of Surgeons.  Harald Hirschprung, a Danish pediatrician, in 1888 described the clinical course and pathology of two infants who died with congenital hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.1 Gastroenterostomy was adopted for the treatment of infants…

  • Partial eclipse of the heart

    Perry Dinardo Cleveland Heights, Ohio, United States   “Crescent Sun + Lens Flare” by Phil Bruxvoort is licensed under CC PDM 1.0. In early August 2017, the nation was buzzing about an upcoming total solar eclipse. I had been immersed in news about the eclipse for weeks, and decided it would be absolutely necessary for me to…