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ARTICLES
Old
Medicine in a New World
Trang La, MD, MBA |
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| After
a two-month student elective at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam, medical student Trang La provides a first-hand account of
her experiences and adventures in her native country. Shifting between
life inside and outside the hospital, Trang captures the chaos that
typifies life and work in Ho Chi Minh City through gripping anecdotes
and colorful descriptions of the environment. In many ways, the scene
at Cho Ray Hospital is a microcosm of greater Vietnam: densely populated,
underdeveloped, and hindered by a stifling bureaucracy. Though the
picture may appear bleak, shreds of hope are emerging in the form
of a new generation focused more on markets and music than the military,
and a dedicated corps of young physicians transitioning into the realm
of modern hospital medicine. |
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The
cult of domesticity and the brotherhood of science: Gendering American
medicine in the nineteenth century
Claire Wendland, MD, PhD |
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| In
the late nineteenth century, American medicine shifted from an eclectic
profession, in which caring and morality were important ways to distinguish
the superior physician, to a mechanistic science. Women who had argued
for their inclusion in the profession on the basis of their "naturally"
superior nurturing powers and moral qualities found themselves losing
ground as nurturing became less central to the medical profession's
concept of itself. I use the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, widely recognized
as the first woman physician in the United States, as an entry point
to examine changing ideas about both medical science and gender, and
the effects of these changes on medical practice. |
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Robley
Dunglison, 1798-1869: The preeminent medical author of mid-nineteenth-century
America
Charles T. Ambrose, MD |
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| Robley
Dunglison (1798-1869) was recruited from London in 1825 by Thomas
Jefferson to teach medicine at his newly founded University of Virginia.
Being salaried here, Dunglison became the full time professor of medicine
in an American medical school. He also became Jefferson's personal
physician and intimate friend during the ex-president's final sixteen
months. Dunglison was the 19c America's most prolific author of medical
texts, including the most popular medical dictionary of the period.
Thus he greatly influenced medical education in this country during
the mid-nineteenth century. His later medical career was spent at
the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where his eloquent
teaching and academic leadership made it for a time the pre-eminent
medical school in the country. Much of our knowledge of Dunglison
comes from his Autobiographical Ana, a unique trove of medical and
social details of his era. |
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Chekhov
on Sakhalin Island
Jack Coulehan, MD |
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| In
1890 the physician-writer Anton Chekhov undertook a perilous seven-month
journey across Siberia to visit the Russian prison colonies on Sakhalin
Island. While there, he attempted to survey every household to ascertain
the living conditions and health status of the population. Some critics
have considered this trip almost suicidal, citing Chekhov's poor health
and depression. Although Chekhov was depressed, the journey actually
served as a form of therapy. He believed that he was paying his debt
to medicine by completing a public hearth investigation; he also hoped
to use the data to write a PhD dissertation, but his proposal was
rejected. The book Chekhov ultimately wrote about the experience was
a fascinating mixture of personal narrative and scientific report. |
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What
or who killed Alexander the Great?
Edward C. Halperin, MD |
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| Alexander
the Great (356 BC - 324 BC) invaded the Persian Empire when he was
22 years old. He conquered the territories of ten modern nations by
the time he was 26 years old, led his forces into modern-day India
and Pakistan, and returned to Babylon where he died following a brief
illness characterized by fever, possibly abdominal pain, and a change
in mental status. The differential diagnosis includes parasitic, bacterial,
or viral infectious disease; a gastrointestinal illness such as pancreatitis
or perforated peptic ulcer; poisoning; alcoholism; or depression.
Clues regarding the cause of death may be derived from ancient historical
writings and an understanding of the signs, symptoms, and natural
history of particular diagnoses. The implications of Alexander's death
are approached by considering the uses and misuses of retrospective
diagnosis |
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Bagoas
Philip A. Mackowiak, MD |
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| An
imaginary memoir of the death of Alexander the Great, based on Plutarch. |
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| POETRY |
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Echo
Cardiogram
John W. Cox, PhD |
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Old
Doctor as Patient
George Finlayson, MD |
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'Cello
Christy Person |
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Thanksgiving
Day-2004
Kenneth L. Pinsker, MD |
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The
Listening Art
Arvey I. Rogers, MD |
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Anthropologist
on Venus
Lauren Rusk, PhD |
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Fifty-Year
Partners
Ed Spudis, MD |
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The
Smell of the Sea
Joseph D. Wassersug, MD |
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