Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

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

  • Other distinguished physicians

    Caton, Richard (1842–1926) – English physician, discovered in 1875 the brain’s electricity by placing direct electrodes on the exposed cortexes of cats and monkeys Dietl, Józef (1804–1878) – Austro-Polish physician, Prof. at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, described the symptom of loin pain after drinking a… Read more

  • The parallel paths of opera and medicine

    In 1597 when Jacopo Peri composed Dafne, the first opera ever written, sporadic epidemics of bubonic plague were still striking his city of Florence. Venice was also suffering greatly. It had been visited by the plague twenty-two times, and some 50,000 of its people had… Read more

  • The Lambs’ Tale

    JMS PearceHull, England Many children and young people struggle with the plays of Shakespeare, whose language, poetic meters, and historical content are often baffling at first sight. Those who persevere and overcome these difficulties learn to love and wonder at Shakespeare’s unsurpassed language and humane… Read more

  • Book review: Foreign Bodies: Pandemics, Vaccines and the Health of Nations

    Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, United Kingdom Simon Schama, the eminent historian and broadcaster, has turned his attention to medical history. His new book, gestated and born during the COVID pandemic, is a chronicle of three pandemic diseases that have afflicted humans for centuries: smallpox, cholera, and… Read more

  • Eating cheese as medicine

    Cheese has been part of human fare since the dawn of history. Already about 7,000 to 8,000 years ago the Sumerians were making cheese from milk by curdling it with enzymes from animal stomachs to prevent it from spoiling. They used it for food, but… Read more

  • A WWII artist remembered

    Luciano FiumeCanzo, Italy When Hitler launched his invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he prevailed on his ally Benito Mussolini to contribute soldiers to sustain his war effort. Three Italian divisions were sent initially and two more in 1942, integrated into the German army… Read more

  • Your worst experience with a physician

    Matthew WootenHouston, Texas, United States As a second-year medical student, I was supposed to interview patients and physicians about their experiences. Specifically, I was supposed to help find ways for physicians to develop better relationships with their patients. When trying to find patients to interview, I… Read more

  • Dr. Thomas Barnardo

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel The title of a short 1904 note in the journal Hospital was “Dr. Barnardo’s Homes.”1,2 Thomas John Barnardo (1845–1905) was described as “evangelical, entrepreneurial and philanthropic.”3 He helped vast numbers of children living in homelessness and poverty. Barnardo was born in Dublin,… Read more

  • Tytus Chałubiński (1820–1889)

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel Tytus Chałubiński was a distinguished Polish physician, naturalist, botanist, educator, and philosopher. He was born in Radom, a town south of Warsaw where a high school and a hospital are named after him. From 1838 to 1840, Chałubiński studied medicine at… Read more

  • Eugenics in Chicago, 1915: Harry Haiselden, M.D., and The Black Stork

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden In the first decades of the twentieth century, the idea of eugenics took root in Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain, and the US. Anthropologists, geneticists, physicians, and politicians informed the public about eugenics and influenced policy and law. Eugenics, from the Greek… Read more

  • Ancient “achoo”: The photic sneeze response in Greek mythology

    Saty Satya-MurtiSanta Maria, California, United States Sneezing, or “sternutation,” has deep roots in mythology and culture. Often associated with life and health but also with death, various cultures have considered sneezing a good or bad omen. Blessing the sneezer with a long life after they… Read more

  • Of vermicide and vermifuge: A history of intestinal parasites at sea

    Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia When the UK’s National Archives launched the Surgeons at Sea project,1 many media outlets focused on one outlandish claim from the curators’ summary of highlights. In June 1825, twelve-year-old Ellen McCarthy was on board the Elizabeth from Cork (Ireland) to Quebec… Read more