Medical Humanities Commons^™

On Top Of The World, Elias Makhoul

be Still

Elias Makhoul felt like he was on top of the world at his medical school’s white coat ceremony, where he was dressed in his white coat for the first time. His fellow classmates and he officially became recognized for becoming student physicians. More than that, it was also a call for celebration, as each of them has endured hardships and overcame numerous obstacles to be there that day. He took the MCAT three times, applied in two application cycles, and was rejected by over 60 schools. Now, he is studying in his second year at NSU-KPCOM. His white coat ceremony …

Girl On Piano Keys, Bhargavi Madhu

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Celebration is the loudest and greatest form of expressing honor and appreciation. The best way to show love and appreciation for life is through celebration! Girl on the Piano Keys was a painting I gifted to a friend on her birthday. She spent that day at a hospital recovering from an episode of sickle cell anemia. Despite the suffering she was undergoing due to the disease, she would always treat everyday like it was her birthday.

A Celebration Of Progress, Reena Patel

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No abstract provided.

Finding Will In Despair, Dhruti Hirani

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This essay is about the author's emotional journey as she discovered what celebration means to her.

Medicine In Spirituality, Ashesh Soni, Krunal Patel

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Modern day medicine places a major emphasis on appreciating spirituality. A patient’s cultural and religious beliefs are integral when practicing medicine in order to provide the most humanistic care possible to patients. This photograph comes to show the exact opposite, medicine in spirituality. Medicine is an integral part of a medical professional's life and it serves as a major defining characteristic of an individual. Though viewed as objective and subjective, medicine and spirituality are all one.

Every Day Is Worth Celebrating, Sundeep Gidugu

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Sundeep Gidugu enjoys writing about his life experiences and opinions from the mindset of a medical and public health student.

Hope For The Future, Suzanne Riskin

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This was the first Physical Diagnosis I group for the first semester at a new medical school in Clearwater, Florida. The students far exceeded my expectations and my thoughts when they wanted me to pose as their patient was how much better each community will be when they graduate and join the ranks of community healers. They worked hard and always wanted to do it better each day.

-Dr. Riskin

Loss, Suzanne Riskin

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No abstract provided.

Thank You, Krunal Patel

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The mission of medicine is to promote health and save lives. Unfortunately, one’s actions in the medical field may sometimes never be enough to revitalize a patient. From my experience, the magnitude of the loss of a patient's life will never be fully appreciated until witnessed first-hand. This poem serves to illuminate one of the sad truths about medicine and provides inspiration for medical professionals to continue to promote humanity and appreciate the true value of life.

A Celebration, Angel Mauricio Marquez

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What began as an image became a story. Angel Mauricio Marquez pictured hands raised into the air, basking in the moment and enjoying the little victories. Angel wanted to talk about a celebration yet not portray it as an isolated event. He didn't want to show happiness in a bubble, He wanted the truth behind it. He wanted to talk about the things that we fight the hardest for and the moments we often believed we were inches from quitting but then didn't. For Angel, these are the reasons we celebrate.

Celebration Of Pride, Bryce Sebade

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No abstract provided.

Saturn V - Kennedy Space Center, Komal M. Patel, Harsh M. Patel

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Saturn V is the rocket that took the first men to the moon.

Future Engineer, Komal M. Patel, Harsh M. Patel

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Komal Patel is a recent mechanical engineer graduate. The photograph is of Juhi Patel at her graduation.

Strawberry Festival - Plant City, 2019, Komal M. Patel, Harsh M. Patel

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Strawberry Festival

Change, Destin, Fl, Komal M. Patel

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No abstract provided.

Expression Of Clinical Experience, Mara Seat

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No abstract provided.

Post-Celebration Celebration, Katherine Taylor

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"We experienced a lot in the NICU. It was very, very trying. Getting to the point where we could coordinate our bottle squeezes with the swallowing pattern of a newborn with a cleft palate was not something that we expected to have to do as new parents. Many parents were not able (either financially or perhaps mentally) to be there with their babies. That was even harder to see. But the nurses are there, doing the best that they can. And sometimes there are volunteers that come to hold and talk to the babies that are healthy enough. Childbirth is …

Expression Of Clinical Experience, Brittany Derynda

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No abstract provided.

The Medicinal Power Of Small Celebrations, Kristina Fritz

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This personal essay provides a first-hand account of a patient and their family celebrating a change in perspective brought about by experiencing clinical studies/medicine. The author infers that celebrations throughout the medical journey could have a medicinal effect on their own for the patient and their families.

Joy In The Mourning, Ludonir Sebastiany Md, Ms

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No abstract provided.

Gautama Buddha: Illustration Of A Patient’S Vision, Haryashpal Bhullar

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

As a psychiatrist in training, I often have the privilege to connect with the unique thoughts and visions patients may be experiencing. The descriptions shared by one patient during my early psychiatry inpatient rotations stuck with me and eventually inspired me to pursue a residency in the field. While interviewing, she expressed a deep spirituality and often finding solace in the mindfulness teachings of Gautama Buddha whenever she was distressed. She would strengthen this coping mechanism by contemplating him sitting and meditating deeply, within a naturalistic setting, however struggled in describing exactly what she was imagining. I further gathered this …

The History Of Early Modern Medicine In New Spain, El Primero Sueño, And Poet Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz, Daniel Hughes

Grand Valley Journal of History

This essay analyzes poetry and other writing by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in the context of themes from Greco-Roman antiquity and the historical development of medicine in seventeenth century New Spain, now Mexico. Sor Juana’s El Primero Sueño, a Spanish language poetic silva, exhibits copious references to writers from classical antiquity, including Aristotle and Ovid. Establishing a context steeped in ideas from Greco-Roman antiquity, Sor Juana invokes the medical and philosophical legacy of foundational physician Galen of Pergamon. She also expands upon his ideas into the human anatomical realm, reflecting the increased early modern prominence of …

Sexual Violence, Traumatic Memory, And Speculative Fiction As Action, Kate Rose

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Starhawk’s speculative novel City of Refuge (2015) depicts rape trauma and its consequences in a dystopian society that is the logical conclusion of patriarchy. French psychiatrist Muriel Salmona’s research on how traumatic memory contributes to inequality and how reconstructing narrative can heal survivors places her similarly at the intersection of story and activism. City of Refuge is a literary experiment focused on survivors of institutionalized sexual assault, while Salmona’s work maps consequences of traumatic memory linked to childhood sexual violence. The basic tenet of narrative medicine that life experience affects mental and physical health coincides with Salmona’s critique of how …

So Others May Live: The Price Of Healthcare In Combat, Robert Del Toro

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

“Medics carried more responsibilities than dry feet, salt tablets, syphilis, and puncture wounds,” U.S. Army Medic Ben Sherman stated after reflecting on his tour in Vietnam. On the battlefields of North Africa, Italy, France, and Vietnam, the medics of the U.S. Army Medical Department faced the difficult duty of preserving life while death surrounded them. Their patients were not strangers but, men they had grown close to, they were comrades and family. Analyzing the memoirs and letters of forward medical personnel from the Second World War and the Vietnam War, this thesis analyzes how a medic’s care went beyond the …

Creatively Exploring Self: Applying Organic Inquiry, A Transpersonal And Intuitive Methodology, Larisa J. Bardsley Phd

The Qualitative Report

This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the …

Optimist Prime- Emergency Medicine Residents Are An Optimistic Group, Nicole Battaglioli, Sarah Mott, Tim P. Moran, Simiao Li-Sauerwine, Matt Melamed

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: No study before has been conducted looking at the level of optimism and pessimism in emergency medicine residents and how it may be linked to resident burnout. This is the first national- level assessment of these personality factors.

Methods: This was a prospective survey study leveraging data obtained through the 2017 National Emergency Medicine Resident Wellness Survey, which included the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). The Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) is a 10-item tool that measures levels of optimism versus pessimism.

Results: We found that the majority of our resident respondents scored in the moderate category of the LOT-R. Additionally, …

Stop Fighting The Coronavirus, Pranay Sinha

Journal of Wellness

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the refrain of war has echoed across the world. It has tainted the way we speak about the pandemic and shaped the way we think about it. Metaphors can direct thought and action. This essay reflects on the ways in which the metaphor of war is disrupting the way we relate to the pandemic, to our society, and to each other and concludes with an alternative metaphor.

Anatomic By Adam Dickinson, Heather Houser

The Goose

Review of Adam Dickinson's Anatomic.

A Battle For Hope, Kaline E. Mulvihill

Akesis

I have friends and family members working in all aspects of the medical system. They are PAs, PTs, nurses, doctors, caregivers, and support staff. They are on the frontline in the brutal battle against Covid-19. This is their story. It is a story about fear, duty, strength, and finding hope. While we adapt to this new normal and cope with the ever-changing landscape, we have to remember that we are all in this fight together.

No Sneezing In Public, Anonymous Author

Akesis

Poetry relating to compassion during COVID-19 pandemic