Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

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

  • Howard A. Knox and intelligence testing on Ellis Island

    Carine TabakKansas City, Kansas, United States Between 1892 to 1924, twelve million men, women, and children entered the United States through the Ellis Island Immigration Center, making it the largest health screening facility in the US at the time.1,2 At first, immigrants were inspected to… Read more

  • Al-Biruni (973–1048)

    Asad BakirGeorge DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States In the year 973 during the Islamic Golden Age, there was born in the city of Kath in Khwarezm (modern Uzbekistan) one of the greatest polymaths of all time. His complete name was Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni;… Read more

  • The tapeworm diet: Myth, mostly

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use…‘we.’”—Attributed to Mark Twain The tapeworm is a flatworm that can live in the human intestine. Humans acquire tapeworms by eating raw or uncooked flesh that contains tapeworm larvae or… Read more

  • The ships’ surgeons’ toxic toolkit

    Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia During the “Age of Sail,” months-long voyages gave rise to unique health concerns.1,2 Moreover, ships’ surgeons frequently encountered diseases brought upon uninhibited sailors through their own “adventurous” behavior. Following their arrival at far-flung ports, sailors often returned from shore visits with more… Read more

  • John Coakley Lettsom

    JMS PearceHull, England John Coakley Lettsom (aka Lettsome) MD FRCP Ed., FRS (1744–1815) is remembered as the physician who founded The Medical Society of London and for his monograph Reflections on the General Treatment and Cure of Fevers. He was born on Van Dyke in… Read more

  • Arvid Carlsson (1923–2018)

    In the world of science, the name of the Swedish physician scientist Arvid Carlsson is inextricably linked to that of dopamine. This catecholamine, consisting essentially of a benzene ring linked to an amine, was isolated as early as 1910, but had been largely ignored as… Read more

  • Beets

    George DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States All but the most lionhearted would experience a sinking feeling on finding they have passed blood in their urine. With Sir Walter Scott they might wonder if changing the vowel A to I means they would soon be making earth.… Read more

  • Esperanto and the babble of dreamers

    Simon WeinPetach Tikvah, Israel L.L. Zamenhof (1859–1917) was an ophthalmologist and philologist from Białystok, then in Russia, now Poland. In the 1880s, he created a new language called Esperanto. The word Esperanto comes from the Latin, spiro, which means “to breathe.” Spiro also means one… Read more

  • Dr. Ugo Cerletti invents electroconvulsive therapy

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Is it even possible, is it logical, is it reasonable for us to treat people who have lost their mind by making them live amongst others who have lost theirs too?”1– Ugo Cerletti, M.D., 1949 Dr. Ugo Cerletti (1877–1963) trained as a… Read more

  • Xenotransplantation on Mount Kalilash

    Devanshi PatelRajkot, Gujarat, India According to Hindu mythology, Mount Kalilash in the Himalayas is the abode of Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati, along with their children Kartikeya and Ganesh.1 The latter son is the elephant-headed god of beginnings, intellectuals, bankers, scribes and authors.2 Many… Read more

  • The two ends of the stethoscope

    Jill KarNew Delhi, India Author’s note The theme of this poem is the decline of doctor-patient relationship in the modern medical setting. Through the expression of unsaid feelings, this poem outlines the thoughts of a patient (stanza 1) and a doctor (stanza 2) in the… Read more

  • Blindness and visual sensory distortion in Thomas Bewick’s woodcuts

    Stephen MartinThailand The artist and naturalist Thomas Bewick (1753–1828) was one of the Enlightenment’s leading polymaths. He wrote groundbreaking books on birds1 and mammals,2 as well as an autobiography, which is absorbing and charming. This Memoir of Thomas Bewick3 is a delightfully detailed window on… Read more