Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Tennessee

  • Unfettered grief

    Lealani AcostaNashville, Tennessee, United States My first glimpse of unfettered grief was through shaggy six-year-old bangs, watching my mother weep, hunched over the toilet and framed by moonlight that cast the pale blue tiles of their master bathroom into darkness. I glimpsed that grief again as a second-year neurology resident, with my long, black hair…

  • Beauty in breaking

    Lealani AcostaNashville, Tennessee, United States I had a succulent hanging from my office cabinet, suspended in a clear teardrop-shaped terrarium: its spiny green arches floated above a mound of fake snow, which I intermittently illuminated by touching the built-in switch that electrified interwoven fairy lights. It was a Christmas present from James’s sister. She had come…

  • Good patient, good doctor

    Lealani Mae AcostaNashville, Tennessee, United States What makes a “good” patient? What makes a “good” doctor? I am a cognitive behavioral neurologist who specializes in dementia. I relish the longitudinal relationship I have with patients and appreciate hearing them say with pride, “Dr. Acosta is MY doctor.” Being someone’s physician means having a personal relationship,…

  • Frances Oldham Kelsey: A medical profile in courage

    Kevin R. LoughlinBoston, Massachusetts, United States Her name has disappeared into the vault of medical history and her dedication to scientific rigor and patient safety has been largely forgotten. Yet her silent but tangible legacy continues to this day. Born in Canada in 1914, Frances Oldham Kelsey received a BSc (1934) and MSc (1935) in…