Tag: Winter 2013
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Lavinia Fontana – Ambras syndrome
Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man . . .Genesis 27:11 The Ambras syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by an excessive growth of hair over the whole body—especially the face, ears, arms, shoulders, back, and legs—and sometimes accompanied by an overgrowth of the gums. Caused by a defect in one of the…
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The First Cut
Lisa Friedman Cleveland, Ohio, United States Poet’s statement: The poem is about my first experience with cadavers in the anatomy lab at medical school. The first cut My first patient was an 88-year-old female “Congestive Heart Failure” the chart said. Not in acute distress Neither alert nor oriented x 3. I was told I…
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My First Medical Rotation
Shawn Khosla Kansas City, Missouri, USA Poet’s statement: My junior year in high school, I started to shadow a physician in an inner-city hospital. This poem illustrates my initial shock at the devastation caused by social evils like drugs and drunk driving. My experience showed me the importance of combining medicine and the humanities to…
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I Held My Father’s Hand – Farewell to an Ex-lover
Elizabeth Colledge Jacksonville, Florida, United States Poet’s statement: These poems are about the experience of letting go of someone who is passing. The first poem is about my father’s death; the second is about the loss of a lover. I held my father’s hand I held my father’s hand in the dark hospital room,…
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Medical limericks
A girl called Jane took an airplane to Spain, And developed abdominal pain. She went straight to bed and drank something red, And twelve hours later was dead. There was a young man called Rimple Who squeezed a very large pimple. It caused him much pain and spread to the brain And left him…
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Alternate Reality – The Magic Age
Adrienne M. Jenness, MLIS Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Poet’s statement: I was diagnosed as bipolar when I was 27. I am now in my sixties and, thanks to good therapists and my own efforts, I have been stable for many years. I know what it is like to be mentally ill and then…
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My Break – Work and Family – In OR 5
Steve Cushman Greensboro, North Carolina, United States Poet’s statement: All three of these poems have to do with the “other” lives of healthcare workers. We see doctors, nurses, and X-ray technologists in the hospital, and and we expect them to be fully engaged in the work they do, but most of them have…
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Running on empty
Zel Brook Corvallis, Oregon, USA Artist’s statement: My photography, sculpture, and paintings document my lifelong experiences with illness and disability. Self-portrait with dysfunctional wheelchair Zel Brook Wood, metal, rubber 50” x 40” This piece is a re-use of wheelchair wheels on an uncomfortable chair with my cane balanced on the seat. This reflects…
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The Triple A
Kyle Amber Coral Gables, Florida, United States The Triple A, 2012 Digital – 24 x 18 in. The curvature of the human body has piqued the interest of artists for centuries. However, the beauty of such shapes and lines should not be confined to the countryside, as is typically depicted in popular compositions. In the…