I recently attended the 2nd Annual Hippocrates Poetry and Medicine Symposium, which was held at Warwick Medical School and hosted by Professor Donald Singer and Associate Professor Michael Hulse. During the day, a group of researchers and clinicians from a variety of backgrounds gathered to explore the role of poetry in the discourse of medicine, […]
Category: Poetics
Medicine Unboxed 2011: Medicine and Values, Cheltenham UK 15 October 2011
Good medicine is more than a set of technical decisions and interventions involving drugs, operations or tests. It demands more of the practitioner – professionalism, empathetic care, moral consideration, insight, an understanding of human suffering and necessarily, wisdom. These attributes are not always prioritised in selecting for or training healthcare professionals, and there is little […]
Off Sick; Narratives of Illness Past and Present
Scholars from the universities of Glamorgan and Cardiff are currently breaking new ground in the Medical Humanities with the Off Sick project, writes Dr Richard Marsden. This research initiative, led by Dr Martin Willis and Dr Keir Waddington, puts a new twist on the well-known concept of the ‘illness narrative’. It focuses not on the […]
Wanted: Art, Poetry and Prose: call for submissions from Ars Medica
For all you creative types looking for a suitable outlet for your art, poetry and prose, this call from the respected Canadian journal ARS MEDICA may be just what you’ve been looking for. […]
“Language in Health Care: Inspiring or Dispiriting?”16th-17th September 2010, Woodbrooke College, Birmingham
This is a small, participative, interdisciplinary conference for users, professionals and academics organised by Think About Health, a network committed to doing collaborative ‘intellectual plumbing’ in the NHS. Key note speakers include Femi Oyebode (poet and psychiatrist) and David Fuller (emeritus professor of English). Other contributions from Angus Clarke (clinical geneticist), Deb Lee (paediatrician), Martyn Evans […]
“Medicine Unboxed 2010: Stories, Language & Medicine” Cheltenham Saturday 9th October 2010
Cheltenham’s ‘Medicine Unboxed’ is a series of conferences for NHS staff, exploring a view of medicine that aspires to more than the technical and which necessarily refers to values, uncertainty and human understanding – to art as much as science. This year, in partnership with the Times Cheltenham Literature Festival, we engage the interface between […]
It’s A Suffered Life
This is an account of a woman, herself severely injured during an attack in Sudan and who witnessed the murder of her babe. It’s A Suffered Life Gilded grace Upon Darkness. Tomorrow’s Heart Becomes the custom for sorrow. Fragmented faces Forgetting The Eyes of those who Beg to look afar. […]
A poetic license to practice (with thanks to Jenny Joseph)
“Health Warning” by Deborah Kirklin When I am a patient I will rarely take my medications But will always want my script instantly filled. And I shall spend hours reading all the health advice the Daily Mail has to offer And be sure to share it with my doctor, in detail and backed up by […]