The drainage tube and the negative pressure bag were my constant companions for sixteen days. I was not always respectful of them, even bouncing them around occasionally. I had an intense sense of relief when we were finally parted. They had served their function well. The wound had healed, and there was no collection or […]
Latest articles
2011 International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine
The 2011 International Symposium shall take place on Saturday the 7th of May. It will be held at the Medical Teaching Centre, Building 37, University of Warwick Gibbet Hall Campus. […]
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 […]
Oncologist Sam Guglani wonders what medical care really means
Care infuses medicine. Well, the word ‘care’ infuses the language of medicine – Healthcare, Intensive Care, Palliative Care, Standard care, Standard of care, Best supportive care, Care Quality Commission. But what actually is medical care? […]
“Newspeak (PART TWO): British Art Now is doubleplusgood!” by Dr Jane R Moore
SAATCHI GALLERY 27th October 2010 – 17th April 2011 A few weeks ago I visited the new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery with my group of 4th year King’s College Medical Students. Visits to galleries, museums and art installations are an integral part of the ‘The Good Doctor’ Special Study Module but I hadn’t included […]
Stories of the Land
Having recently visited some of the most modern hospitals in the world, I have been struck by the style of their architecture. There seems to be a changing face of medicine, whereby the expressions of the building housing the body of medicine mirror certain conceptualizations of the human body. I began to wonder how does […]
The Genie in the Syringe
Throughout the Christmas season, pantomime performances are one of the UK’s most favoured traditions. The pantomime has a long history with a genesis in Ancient Greek times. In our modern era, pantomimes are often adapted to feature contemporary twists and understandings about the unique and special meanings which have structured certain folk tales with a […]
‘Comics & Medicine: The Sequential Art of Illness’: Conference, Chicago, 9-11 June 2011
This second international interdisciplinary conference* aims explore the past, present, and possible future of comics in the context of the healthcare experience. Programs in medical humanities have long touted the benefits of reading literature and studying visual art in the medical setting, but the use of comics in healthcare practice and education is relatively new. […]
’21st Century Medicine, Aristotle And The Church’ by Dr. Andrew R. J. Tillyard
I recently attended the funeral of the local parish priest and this led me to consider many of the similarities between what I do in medicine and the role of the ‘Parish Priest’ as well as the ‘misrepresentation’ of 21st medicine. I work in intensive care, a setting of immense emotional stress for patients and […]