Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Summer 2021

  • The Lazarus phenomenon: When the dead return to life

    Tom SeweNairobi, Kenya It is a few minutes after 2 AM. A middle-aged woman lays motionless on a table in a hospital emergency department with tubes protruding from multiple orifices. The relentless cardiac monitor screams its flat-line signal as the code-blue team pants, scrubs clinging to their sweaty chests after a phenomenal forty-five-minute cardiopulmonary resuscitation…

  • The death of King George V

    Seamus O’MahonyLondon, England Bertrand Dawson, Lord Dawson of Penn (1864-1945), was the most eminent British doctor in the years between the two world wars. He was both a skilled medical politician (twice president of the British Medical Association, eight-times president of the Royal College of Physicians) and a brilliantly successful private practitioner. His bedside manner…

  • When daydreaming becomes a problem

    S.T GamageColombo, Sri Lanka “They say there’s no harm in daydreaming, but there is.”— Charlaine Harris An excessive amount of daydreaming can lead to a psychological condition called maladaptive daydreaming (MD). It is also known as daydreaming disorder. Professor Eliezer Somer from the University of Haifa, Israel, first identified this condition. It is a disorder…

  • They don’t teach us that

    Evelyn PotochnyHershey, Pennsylvania, United States You called in your own medevac. You’d even tourniqueted both legs, or what was left of them. And when the Chinook kicked up all that dust and finally landed, you looked so—calm. Someone read each name and the litany of injuries while we watched each stretcher pass by, yours included—a…

  • An essential attitude of the heart

    Florence GeloPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States I project an image of the painting, Andy Warhol, on the screen in the medical school classroom. I am quiet for a minute. I then invite students to look at the painting and compose a list of what they see. Twelve students are present. Five minutes later, I notice four…

  • The role of lullabies in mother-baby attachment

    Özge SuzanNursan ÇinarSakarya, Turkey A lullaby is defined as a sweet, gentle song that is sung to entice a baby to sleep. In Turkish folklore, a mother’s voice is very important for her baby. An example of this can be found in the following text: “Uyusun da büyüsün, ninni, tıpış tıpış yürüsün, Ninni”“Grow up in…

  • Improving health and saving lives: The unusual relationship of religion on sports and health

    Ira D. GlickDanielle KamisStanford, California, United StatesNeil EisenbergSan Francisco, California, United States Religion has always had a powerful effect on culture. As such, it is surprising that there has been scant literature on the effect of religious beliefs and teachings on participation in sports and the subsequent effect on individual health. The beliefs, guidelines, advice,…

  • Mark Rothko and the dialogue in his mind

    Mildred WilsonDetroit, MI “The mind is what the brain does—and more. The mind has a mind of its own. The main business of the mind is to mind its own business.”— Edwin S. Shneidman1 Mark Rothko was one of the most celebrated abstract expressionist painters in the twentieth century. In 1961, he opened a two-month…

  • The use of television series in medical education

    Gulmira DerbissalinaNur-Sultan city, Kazakhstan Medically themed television series are popular among future doctors. Students and trainees can imagine their future work, including the clinical setting, relationships with colleagues and superiors, communication with patients and their relatives, and consultations and advice from senior doctors. I use medical series with my students as a way to discuss…

  • Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau and aeration of the White Plague

    Philip R. LiebsonChicago, Illinois, United States Edward Livingston Trudeau was born in 1848, one year before Frédéric Chopin died of tuberculosis. Trudeau’s extended family eventually included Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, and Garry Trudeau of Doonesbury fame. In his time tuberculosis was killing up to 14% of persons who had ever lived and…