Blog by Cormac Francis Mullins and JJ Coughlan During the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, it was difficult not to experience a sense of claustrophobia. Confined to one’s room and sequestered from society and family, the dystopian universe we had been faced with felt oppressive and nightmarish. In many senses, it felt “Kafkaesque.” As […]
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A Parable for Our Times
Film Review by Professor Robert Abrams, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York ‘Daughter’ (Daria Kashcheeva, Czech Republic, 2019) “Daughter” was the 2019 winner of the “Student Oscar” for the best animated film created by a student from an international school, an award bestowed by the U.S. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. “Daughter” has a […]
“The Eyes of Others Are Our Prisons; Their Thoughts our Cages” (Virginia Woolf)
Film Review by Franco Ferrarini, gastroenterologist and film reviewer ‘Prisoners’ directed by Denis Villeneuve (USA, 2013) Warning: the review contains plot spoliers! Villeneuve’s film, as clearly stated by its title, deals with the theme of captivity, not just physical but also, and perhaps mainly, psychological incarceration. ‘Prisoners’ is not just a compelling thriller with beautiful […]
‘Born to be’ (Tania Cypriano, USA, 2019)
Film Review by Keerthi Gondy, B.S., a fourth-year medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mi. Born to Be is Tania Cypriano’s remarkably moving documentary about New York’s Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, where for the first time, transgender patients have access to transition-related health and surgical care. […]
Addressing OB/GYN Care Access for Refugee Women Using Traditional Dance Exchanges
Blog by Shilpa Darivemula Resettlement and the challenges it poses are defined and documented health issues for refugee families, particularly for refugee women who may lack access to obstetric and gynecologic care. A refugee background has been associated with higher risks of preterm birth, infant mortality and morbidity, and postpartum depression due to limited access […]
Easing Pain on the Western Front
Book Review by Dr. Richard M. Prior Paul Stepansky. Easing Pain on the Western Front. McFarland & Company 2020 (paperback version), 232 pages. ISBN 978-1-4766-9001-9. Paul Stepansky’s Easing Pain on the Western Front provides a very new and unique insight into the experience of U.S. Army nurses providing direct care on the battlefields of the Western […]
June Special Issue: The Human Bodies of WWII, Beyond the Battlefield
Brandy Schillace Interviews Dr. Hannah Simpson and Dr. Megan Girdwoood, editors of the June Special Issue The destructive action of World War II extended far beyond the traditional battlefield arena, the more familiar trench-and-no-man’s-land zones that had typified World War I. This special issue investigates the impact of medical crisis and treatment as it impacted […]
Response to “Make COVID-19 Visuals Gross”
Provocation by Han Yu In a provocation dated April 21, 2020, Bivens and Moeller argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s SARS-CoV-2 virus illustration, “while scientifically accurate and visually pleasing,” fails to convey “the exigency of the current pandemic…and the human toll” and doesn’t provoke publics to adopt behaviors (such as handwashing […]
New Site “ArtandAnatomy.com” Illustrates Complex Beauty of the Body’s Interior
Announcement by Laura Ferguson and Katie Grogan, DMH, MA The Master Scholars Program in Humanistic Medicine (MSPHM) at NYU Grossman School of Medicine recently launched a new website ArtandAnatomy.com, offering a glimpse inside their book Art & Anatomy: Drawings (University of California Medical Humanities Press, 2018) and the innovative anatomy drawing course on which it is […]
‘Saving Face’ and Public Health Policy During Covid-19
Blog by Arthur Rose and Luna Dolezal Criticisms of the Chinese response to the coronavirus pandemic have frequently used “saving face” to explain China’s politicized public health strategy. “Saving face” has also been used to explain Japan’s delayed decision to cancel the 2020 Olympics and Pakistan’s return to work on the Belt and Road project. […]