Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

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

  • Greater than the sum of her parts: The journey of a medical student

    Japjee ParmarAmritsar, Punjab, India “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked, and beyond and above these figs were many… Read more

  • Temporary insanity in tropical waters

    Richard de GrijsSydney, Australia So, by a calenture misled, The mariner with rapture sees, On the smooth ocean’s azure bed, Enamell’d fields and verdant trees: With eager haste he longs to rove In that fantastick scene, and thinks It must be some enchanted grove; And… Read more

  • William Webster, the first modern Canadian academic anesthesiologist

    Kush PatelAjax, Canada Until the early twentieth century, anesthetics were a black box, and even though ether and chloroform were commonly used, their physiological effects were little known and felt nothing short of wizardry.1 No wonder Dr. John Warren cried “this is no humbug!” on… Read more

  • Robert Hooke and Micrographia

    JMS PearceHull, England It is perhaps rash to attempt to appraise the work of Robert Hooke (1635–1703), but renewed attention is merited to a great scientist whose contribution to medicine and science has not been adequately acknowledged. Robert Hooke was a scientist and biologist who,… Read more

  • Fritz Mainzer and the Jewish Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt

    Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel In 1961, Dr. Fritz Mainzer (1897–1961) was invited to lecture at a medical congress in Wiesbaden, Germany. Unfortunately, a fatal myocardial infarction ended the life and impressive career of this forgotten Jewish physician and scientist.1 Mainzer studied in Heidelberg and Frankfurt-on-Main.… Read more

  • Blake’s autonomous newborn: Neonatal mortality in “Infant Joy” and “Infant Sorrow”

    Zoya GurmDetroit, Michigan, United States William Blake (1757–1827) was an artist, poet, and progenitor of the Romantic era. Romanticism represents the artistic and intellectual movement responding to the Enlightenment, industrialization, and political revolutions of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.1 A prominent theme in… Read more

  • Breaking Bad: A case study of antisocial personality disorders

    Jason LiuSan Francisco Bay Area, California, United States Both psychopathy and the non-clinical “sociopathy”1 have been diagnosed in infamous serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer and John Gacy, and popular films and TV shows, like American Psycho and Dexter, have drawn from these diagnoses. Psychopathy… Read more

  • Seasick: Lessons in human anatomy from Hyman Bloom’s The Hull (1952)

    Liz IrvinWorcester, Massachusetts, United States “I experience a gagging sensation and, still farther down, spasms in the stomach, the belly; and all the organs shrivel up the body, provoke tears and bile, increase heartbeat, cause forehead and hands to perspire.”– Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror… Read more

  • The art of war and medicine

    Xinxin WuOmaha, Nebraska, United States War and medicine are two vastly different fields, yet they share a common goal. In war, soldiers risk their lives to defend their country; in medicine, healthcare professionals work to heal the sick and prevent illness. Both groups deserve our… Read more

  • Florence Nightingale

    Abigail RichardsonSheffield, UK Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the British nurse who became known as the “Lady with the Lamp,” is remembered for her work during the Crimean War and as a statistician and public health advocate.1 Her lifelong dedication to nursing led to her being the… Read more

  • Scrofula or the king’s evil

    Scrofula, the old name for tuberculous lymphadenitis of neck, was once a common condition. The name was derived from the ancient Latin scrofa for sow, possibly because the affected nodes were shaped like the swollen neck of a sow or because pigs were particularly prone… Read more

  • For debate: Presents from patients

    Hugh Tunstall-PedoeDundee, Scotland It was Christmas Day in Guy’s Hospital, London. Two months into my first house-physician post, I was completing a morning round with the staff nurse on my female ward. At the far end of the open ward was a bed with closed… Read more