Medical Humanities Commons^™

No Sneezing In Public, Anonymous Author

Akesis

Poetry relating to compassion during COVID-19 pandemic

Broken With Nature, Meghan Bowler

Akesis

This is a short reflection on two separate periods of intense mental and physical self-healing. Nature removed me from the imprisonment of my own mind around 8 years ago, only to fall back into its grips after a recent hip surgery. Hiking/physical activity was the only form of therapy that I was vulnerable enough to let heal me. It would break me down mentally and physically while rebuilding me at the same time. Some information was derived from personal journal entries but all are very relevant to each and every hike I take today.

Tides, Paul S. Eo

Akesis

This photo is an overhead shot of the waves breaking at Pine Point beach. This represents so much for me. In these times of uncertainty it gives me hope that the tides will eventually turn. And just like the tides, this too will take a turn for the better. It also represents the healing and cleansing qualities of the sea.

Motus Habitus: An Anatomical Ethnography, Michael Cyr, Jordan G. Lamb

Akesis

Although this project began long before the release of Akesis' Spring theme, it perfectly encapsulates adaptation in many ways. The response to the recent pandemic and the disruption to people's daily routines has caused us to reflect on the ways we experience our bodies and minds in the absence of work, recreation, sociality, and movement. Movement, a key to human health and happiness, has been greatly restrained as most of us are confined to our living quarters. Now more than ever it is important to acknowledge the effects of lifestyle on body and health and find creative ways to move …

Decision 2020, Rolene Yousefyan

Akesis

The materials used to create this piece were chalk pastels. The inspiration behind this drawing was the difficult decisions we all have had to make at some point throughout our lives. No matter the reason why we made these decisions, there is no changing them and they may forever change the pathways of our lives.

Finding Common Threads: How Patients, Physicians And Nurses Perceive The Patient Gown, Christy M. Lucas, Cheryl Dellasega

Patient Experience Journal

Evidence-based care is standard practice in medicine, but the patient gown has fallen outside the scope of scholarly research. The current gown renders a patient vulnerable, diminishing patients’ sense of identity, agency, and dignity with its one-size-fits-none design. The impact on providers is similarly neglected. Our objective was to explore how patients and providers derive meaning from patient gowns. A convenience sample at an academic medical center was interviewed utilizing a standardized framework developed by a medical student and two PhD-prepared researchers with experience in qualitative methods. The study was inductive in nature, seeking to understand perceptions of the patient …

When Rationing Becomes Part Of Clinical Decision-Making, Christopher A. Hopper, Mitra Bahaee

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical practice-based reflection on Noack DP, Newton G. Compared to maximal current management standards, oscillating positive expiratory pressure devices have not been shown to improve clinically relevant outcomes in COPD patients with acute exacerbation. Clin. Res. Prac. 2017;3(2):eP1516. doi: 10.22237/crp/149886732.

Why I Brought My Mother Home, Barbara L. Gracious

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in the United States more than 16 million adult family members provide care for a relative with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. The economic value contributed by unpaid caregivers is $234 billion dollars. Such caregivers are vital to the ability of the U.S. to meet caretaking needs, as the projected number of individuals suffering from dementia will nearly triple over the next 30 years. A meta-analysis found that decisions to provide family caretaking are rooted in long-standing family relationships. This essay explores one family’s decision to move from long-term institutional care back to family-based care …

The Effect Of Physician Held Stigmas And Bias On The Health Outcomes Of Patients With Obesity: A Review Of The Literature, Rachel Cohen, Catherine Jones

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Obesity is a growing epidemic that continues to garner attention throughout healthcare. The goal of this study was to review the literature on physician bias and stigmas surrounding obesity to assess the current state of research on connections between obesity-related stigma and the health outcomes and care of patients with obesity. A specific search string was used to obtain articles via PubMed and psychINFO, yielding 14 studies found that investigate these connections. The studies were categorized into three distinct pathways leading from physician stigma and biases to differing health outcomes of patients with obesity. These three pathways- perceptions, patient interaction, …

Surgeons’ Views On Shared Decision-Making, Suraj Kannan, Jayhyun Seo, Kevin R. Riggs, Gail Geller, Emily F. Boss, Zackary D. Berger

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Shared decision-making (SDM) has a significant role in surgical encounters, where decisions are influenced by both clinician and patient preferences. Herein, we sought to explore surgeons’ practices and beliefs about SDM.

Methods: We performed a qualitative study consisting of semi-structured individual interviews with 18 surgeons from private practice and academic surgery practices in Baltimore, Maryland. We purposively sampled participants to maximize diversity of practice type (academic vs private), surgical specialty, gender, and experience level. Interview topics included benefits and challenges to patient involvement in decision-making, communicating uncertainty to patients, and use of decision aids. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. …

Hx Of, Bonni Boles

Akesis

My purpose in creating this comic strip was to tell a story that depicts some of the struggles I have had with the health care system and how a patient's history can go overlooked. I suffered from chronic insomnia for over 10 years before a licensed professional counselor, someone tasked with actually listening to me, helped me to get on medication to help with sleep. My mental health, and general health, problems became much less severe and more manageable after finally sleeping regularly.

Sleep hygiene has been found to not have much success with chronic insomnia. I didn't need someone …

Skull And Cervical Spine Study, Paul J. Mangiafico

Akesis

Anatomical drawings are a really fun way to understand and appreciate the structure and the complexity of the human body. The material used to create this drawing was a #2 mechanical pencil.

Twin, Amy L. Courtney

Akesis

Reflective essay about being an identical twin who no longer looks identical.

Remedy, Michael Cyr

Akesis

In keeping with this issues’ theme this piece is meant to highlight the subtle places terminal illness hides biologically, socially and spiritually and how and where it is expressed, sometimes despite the best efforts of the patient or caregivers. This piece also makes effort to convey the importance of humanity in medicine and highlight loving connection as an important part of the arsenal we use against sickness.

Hexis Habitus, Jessica Rehrig

Akesis

This photograph is one that was taken years ago after gymnastics practice. It was mindlessly taken: poor quality, out of frame, buried amongst memories saved in a rarely viewed album. At the time, it captured nothing more than a habitus, a commonplace that seemed unnecessary to freeze in time.

Years have passed since training, and our hands no longer serve as an outward reflection of diligence and dedication. Today those calluses exist in the internal habitus of our character, and in one mindlessly taken, poor quality, out of frame photograph.

Clay And Stone, Jess W. Rempel

Akesis

Clay handprints on a canyon wall in southern Utah, found after the people who made them had gone. The Navajo sandstone of the canyon wall dates to the Jurassic period, with a record of eons revealed by the water that carved the canyon away. People love to leave their mark on places that make marks on them: some of the earliest recorded graffiti in Pompeii simply read "Gaius was here." I enjoyed stumbling upon the hand prints which allowed me into the hikers' experience, and their joy could add to the lasting impression that place made upon me. Our experiences …

Corporeal Quintessence, Jordan Lamb, Michael Cyr

Akesis

In keeping with the theme of “Historia Habitus” this collection is meant to illustrate how the physical form is a living history, with every movement written into the striations of the human musculature. The old adage “you are what you eat” is easily extended to “you are what you do”. Contemplate the hours and repetitions that have gone into sculpting the highlighted regions of our model/athletes. We hope this collection stimulates reflection on what the body can tell you about your past and what your, or perhaps your patient’s, lifestyle can predict about the future.

The Journey Of Life, Rolene Yousefyan

Akesis

The materials used to create this piece were oil pastels. The inspiration behind this piece was the importance of mental health awareness along with our ability to grow and become who we are today based on our past experiences and history.

Our Histories, Our Horizons: A Letter To Our Readers

Akesis

Volume 5, Issue 1 marks a new chapter in the history of our narrative medicine journal as we realize an important goal of Akesis—establishing a foothold on the Portland campus of UNE. Our hope is that Akesis becomes a familiar name among students, faculty, and staff, and that our call for submissions and issue publications are events everyone anticipates and enjoys. This issue also welcomes six new editors to Akesis, students representing a diverse sampling of UNE’s graduate and professional programs from both campuses. The success of this issue’s call for submissions is due to the efforts of …

Social Isolation Among Families Caring For Children With Disabilities, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

In this issue introduction, the editor-in-chief of Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews comments on the social isolation experienced by families that include children with significant disabilities.

House Calls Are Reaching The Tipping Point — Now We Need The Workforce, Thomas Cornwell

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Home-based primary care (HBPC) improves the lives of high-cost, frail, homebound patients and their caregivers while reducing costs by keeping patients at home and reducing the use of hospitals and nursing homes. Several forces are behind the resurgence of HBPC, including the rapidly aging population, advancements in portable medical technology, evidence showing the value of HBPC, and improved payments for HBPC. There are 2 million to 4 million patients who could benefit from HBPC, but only 12% are receiving it. The number of these patients is expected to double over the next two decades. This requires a larger and better …

Incorporating Home Visits In A Primary Care Residency Clinic: The Patient And Physician Experience, Mary Caitlin St. Clair, Jessica J. F. Kram, Glenda Sundberg

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Home visits, once a popular but now uncommon form of health care delivery, are on the rise. Few studies have focused on the value the experience brings to resident physicians and their patients.

Methods: A 6-month pilot was conducted with 11 residents who participated in 32 home visits with 11 patients. Patient and resident experiences were captured through a survey following the home visits.

Results: In all, 100% of patients and a majority of residents were very interested in being a part of and incorporating future home visits, respectively. Every patient in the survey said that the visits resulted …

A Letter To My Departed Niece, * Anonymous *

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The following piece was written in the weeks following the death of the author’s niece. It is an attempt to explore how we as a society handle health crises differently for medical versus mental health diagnoses.

A Bilingual Approach To Pediatric Occupational Therapy: The Importance Of Communication Between Providers & Spanish-Speaking Families In Northwest Arkansas, Emily Ann Davidson

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

Due to the demographic demands of Northwest Arkansas and the prevalence of disparities in health care, this study aims to assess the current practices, perceived need, and willingness to provide bilingual Spanish-English outpatient pediatric occupational therapy options in Northwest Arkansas. The hope of this study is to better inform pediatric occupational therapy providers of the growing need for bilingual services so that they may respond appropriately in order to better serve Latino and Spanish-speaking patients and their families or caregivers.

Clinical Decision Making: A Case Study Of The Effects Of Evidence Based Medicine And Past Empirical Experience In The Emergency Department, Olivia Zeman-Renner

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

With a growing number of medical malpractice suits and the passage of policy that focuses on patient advocacy, an emphasis has been placed on research regarding the decision-making processes of physicians in everyday practices. Over the past decades, scholars have looked to specific clinical decision-making philosophies, how they can be implemented into practice, and the effects of such implementation, but little research has been done into the culmination of decision-making philosophies on a day-to-day basis. By focusing on single-case study of a Midwestern Emergency Department and asking Attending physicians to self-report their decision-making philosophies, this study serves as a transition …

Oncogenesis- Kaleidoscopic And Multi-Level Reality, Firmilian Calota, Cristian Mesina, Stelian Stefanita Mogoanta, Dragos Calota

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Oncogenesis is an extremely complex phenomenon. The mechanisms by which cancer is induced is only partially known. Consequently, therapeutic targets may be uncertain and results are often unsatisfactory. The purpose of this paper is to develop a trans-level and multiple transdisciplinary perspective describing the kaleidoscopic reality of oncogenesis. This manner of understanding oncogenesis as a complex process characterized by a non-linear dynamic, far from equilibrium and with unpredictable evolution, transcends the classical perspective and requires a paradigm shift. This approach is also facilitated by recent studies that focus on group phenomena, with emerging behaviors in a continuous phase transition. Biological …

Overcoming The Overwhelming, Abigail Mae Riitano

Akesis

This piece was inspired by a CPC prompt that required reflection on where we feel we are currently as medical students and how it compares to our expectations before starting medical school. I believe this relates to the theme "always forward" as I reflected on my expectations and realized that I need to give my positive perspectives room to grow.

Not Now, Psoas., Kelly Mcguirl

Akesis

My psoas is always tight.

Sometimes I’m too intense.

My psoas reminds me with a collegial cramp.

Usually on my dominant side.

I notice, but push through, telling my psoas to shut the hell up, I’m busy.

When it’s quiet,

I notice and allow the guidance.

I soften and submit to a gentleness of mind and muscle.

The ease that comes is an honest breeze that carries me through.

A Home Death On Peaks Island, Chuck Radis

Akesis

I believe that those who die, particularly those like my patient Martha, can teach the living a great deal about “Always Forward.” All too often I find that the immediate family of the deceased becomes stuck in grief, unable to move beyond their loss. My patient Martha, by allowing her children to participate directly in bathing her after she passed was very wise in anticipating how powerful grief can be. She wanted the healing to take place even on the day she passed. And I have to think that her insistence that I come by the house the night she …

Expanding International Health Curriculum For The Internal Medicine Residency At Mmc, Brian King, Hassan Mahmoud, Anthony Pastore

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

While internal medicine residents at Maine Medical Center provide care for many refugees and immigrants, there is not a formal international health curriculum to equip residents to care for this vulnerable population. Since 2002, 3,793 refugees have arrived in Maine for resettlement. Our aim was to survey residents about their interest in added international health instruction and design an educational curriculum for these physicians.