Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: truth

  • An Eliotian journey through suffering

    Francesco EniaPalermo, Italy A cold coming we had of itjust the worst time of the yearfor a journey and such a long journeythe ways deep and the weather sharp– TS Eliot, “Journey of the Magi” The dizziness again … stunning images … A child with no hope of a cure, affected by dilated cardiomyopathy, looks…

  • The benefit of literature to a medical student

    Martin ConwillUnited Kingdom In a letter to Benjamin Bailey in 1817, John Keats, who only one year prior was a medical student himself, wrote: “I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of imagination – what the imagination sees as beauty must be truth.”1 This proclamation can be…