Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

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

  • International adoption of Greek “orphans”

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “He’s only a pawn in their game.”1—Bob Dylan Between 1950 and 1962, 3,200 Greek children were adopted by American couples. The Greek Civil War (1946–1949) had begun after Nazi occupation of Greece ended. Western countries supported the Greek government against the communist… Read more

  • The pediatric pioneer and his finger

    Ciara O’NeillDublin, Ireland One of the most intriguing statues in the Graves Hall of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin is that of Sir Henry Marsh (1790–1860). Alongside the three other memorials in the hall—to Robert Graves, William Stokes, and Dominic Corrigan—Marsh… Read more

  • Morning rounds

    Alan BlumTuscaloosa, Alabama, United States During my internship, residency, and fellowship in the late 1970s, I kept a visual journal, filling several notebooks with patients’ stories, clinical vignettes, snippets of overheard conversations, and sketches. The two collages in this gallery, drawn in my usual medium… Read more

  • The origins of NIH medical research grants

    Edward TaborBethesda, MD, United States The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports medical research in non-government universities and hospitals and some small businesses. The cost and scope of these grants significantly exceed those of NIH’s own intramural program of clinics, wards, and laboratories. The… Read more

  • Erik Waller the book collector

    Anna LantzStockholm, Sweden Erik Waller (1875–1955) was a Swedish surgeon and book collector who spent most of his professional life in Lidköping, a small town in the southwest of Sweden. He received his medical education in Uppsala and Stockholm before moving to Lidköping in 1909,… Read more

  • Emperor Claudius and his physician, Xenophon of Kos

    Sally MetzlerChicago, Illinois, United States Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Drusus Nero Germanicus, Emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 CE, though known to historians, became a household name in 1970 with the advent of the popular television series I, Claudius. But he had already gained… Read more

  • Love and syphilis: The marriage of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

    Nicolas Roberto Robles Diego Peral  Caceres, Spain   Figure 1. Portrait of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. Valeriano Domínguez Bécquer. Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. ¡Cuánta nota dormía en sus cuerdas, como el pájaro duerme en las ramas, esperando la mano de… Read more

  • Gonzalo R. Lafora: Spanish neuropsychologist and neuropathologist

    Enrique Chaves-CarballoOverland, Kansas, United States Gonzalo Rodríguez-Lafora (1886–1971) was a Spanish neurologist best known for his description of intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies (Lafora bodies) in myoclonic epilepsy. Lafora was born in Madrid on June 25, 1886. At the age of four, he moved to Puerto Rico… Read more

  • The role of doctors in the intellectual life of Spain

    “One of the aspects of Spanish intellectual life which struck me repeatedly was the fact that civic leadership so often rested in the hands of medical men. They wrote the best books, made the most daring statements and were revered as the elements of society… Read more

  • Famine and illness in War and Peace

    The Pavlograd regiment had lost only two men wounded in action, but famine and sickness had reduced their numbers by almost half. In the hospitals death was so certain that soldiers suffering from fever, or the swelling caused by bad food, preferred to remain on… Read more

  • Great Ormond Street and JM Barrie

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden James Matthew Barrie (1860–1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright. He wrote about thirty novels and twenty plays. He is best known for his 1904 play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, which later became the 1911 novel Peter… Read more

  • “All hands to dance and skylark!” – Shipboard dancing in the British Navy

    Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia “We were all hearty seamen, no cold did we fear;And we have from all sickness entirely kept clear;Thanks be to the Captain he has proved so good;Amongst all the Islands to give us fresh food.”1,2– William Perry, surgeon’s mate on H.M.S.… Read more