Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Review of Health Humanities in Postgraduate Medical Education: A Handbook to the Heart of Medicine

  • Book review: The Soul of Medicine: Tales from the Bedside

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Life is short, and the art long; the occasion fleeting, experience fallacious, and judgment difficult.”—Hippocrates The Soul of Medicine is a slender (200-page) book by surgeon-author Sherwin B. Nuland. It contains twenty-one essays, each one based on a “tale” told to Nuland… Read more

  • Body language: The history of medical terminology

    Eve ElliotDublin, Ireland “We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.“—James D. Nicoll As any student of life sciences will tell you, medical terminology can feel like a… Read more

  • Amy Sage

    Eli EhrenpreisChicago, Illinois, United States During my medical training in the 90s, Amy Sage was a real standout. She was a fellow in the gastroenterology program at the university hospital. She was tall, muscular, and had blonde hair. She had quite a presence at work,… Read more

  • The mysterious illness of Christopher Columbus

    It is well known that Christopher Columbus left Spain in 1492 and sailed westward on three small ships, the Santa María, Niña, and Pinta, in search of a northwest passage to the East Indies. It is perhaps less well known that during the greater part… Read more

  • Pierre Charles Louis of the numerical method

    Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis (1787–1872) was a physician and epidemiologist who made significant contributions to medicine. He worked on the transmission of infectious diseases and developed the concept of “therapeutic nihilism” in the treatment of disease. Louis grew up during the French Revolution, studied medicine… Read more

  • Sir Norman Gregg and the German measles

    Sir Norman Gregg was an Australian eye doctor who in 1941 noticed that some mothers suffering from rubella during pregnancy had babies with severe eye abnormalities. Born in 1892 in Burwood, a suburb of Sydney, Gregg studied medicine at the University of Sydney, played cricket… Read more

  • Marc Ruffer, founder of paleopathology

    Sir Marc Armand Ruffer (1859–1917) is considered the founder of paleopathology, the study of disease in human remains. He was born in Lyons, France, the son of Swiss banker Baron Jacques de Ruffer and a German mother. He was educated in Germany and France, Oxford… Read more

  • More on Arthur Aufderheide, the mummy doctor (1922–2013)

    Arthur C. Aufderheide (1922–2013) received his undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1943 and his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1952. After completing his education, he became a professor at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and spent most… Read more

  • Soul power

    Shannon Adams-Hartung Chicago, Illinois, United States Soul food has deep historical, cultural, and economic roots in the African American community. Much of the cuisine affiliated with modern-day soul food dates back to the era of American slavery. Before the fourteenth century, the African diet was… Read more

  • Medicalization of death and dying: Room for growth in end-of-life care

    Rose ParisiAlbany, New York, United States In recent years, the way in which Americans cope with death and dying has evolved considerably and become institutionalized and over-medicalized. Whereas over time people have died in their homes, untethered to wires and machinery, modern medicine has turned… Read more

  • From silks to science: The history of hematoxylin and eosin staining

    Vidhi NaikAberdeen, Scotland Introduction Hematoxylin and eosin, dyes used to stain tissue samples, collectively known as H&E, form the benchmark for histological stains. These dyes possess a profound and alluring history, which includes stories of the fabric industry, pirates, fine art, and eventually histology. The… Read more

  • Blood and hate: The anti-Semitic origin of the fabled first transfusion

    Matthew TurnerMcChord, Washington, United States Introduction It is a story often repeated in medical textbooks: in 1492, Innocent VIII lay dying. His physician attempted the first recorded blood transfusion, transfusing the blood of three children into the deteriorating Pope. The treatment failed, and Innocent’s uneasy… Read more