An Ode to Paul Hoover
Secret / The caterpillar munching on hair / beneath your scrub cap
Tag: art in medicine
Contributing Writer
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Mallory Evans is a second-year medical student at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine in Rochester, Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science degree in cellular and molecular biology and a minor in German. When not studying, you can find her running many miles on woodland trails, perfecting a black bean burger recipe, or saying answers to Jeopardy! out loud at the TV. One day she hopes to pursue a career in pediatrics or obstetrics and travel to at least one place on every continent.
To Be a Kid
Just a five-year-old kid / Yet always in and out of the hospital, / Since her first beautiful breath / Through each breath after, / With her life-giving / Yet ever-faltering lungs.
History of Present Illness — A Medical School Short Horror Film
A first-year medical student’s stress and anxiety begin to take physical form as she navigates her first year of medical school.
Drinking Grapefruit Juice
I didn’t know / many can’t / sip coral pulpy bitter / juice from narrow glasses.
Circle of Life
A loud cry as we enter the world. / A silent cry as we depart.
The Anatomy Lesson
There were seven of us standing around the table as the attending surgeon debrided the infected fascia. The vascular surgeon came in the room and barked at us to identify the structures before us. “What’s that artery?” he interrogated us. “I’ll give you a hint,” he said, “there’s a deep and a superficial.” We named the sural nerve and iliotibialis band and the great saphenous vein. As we clamored around the table, I suddenly thought of the Rembrandt painting: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
Having Your Pathology and Eating It Too
Just as our vernacular has embraced the language of food to describe people, so too has the medical community used such language to describe disease.
Hope, The Best Medicine (2018)
This painting is for patients and those who provide medical care who are in need of inspiration.
The Importance of Medical Illustration in Patient Communication
For Dr. Francois Luks, the pen is mightier than the sword. Armed with ink and a blank pad of paper, he begins to draw out a stomach. With a stroke here and some shading there, he deftly sketches the anastomoses of a procedural resection.
Ensconced in His Throne Upon the Sea
I strode down hallways, winding ‘round to meet / A sailor old and take to him his meal. / A gentle bounce in every step on beat, / This home to many always builds my zeal.
Five Inestimable Pounds
A canvas / Of delicately oiled / Skin, stretched taut
Last and First Days
Was it a fall? Did I miss the last step? These things I cannot recall / Hidden from sight, the blood crept from one lone vessel and began to compress / Nice to meet you, one medical student said, as he unzipped my sheath
Contributing Writer
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Sal is an M1 at Chicago Medical School where he also serves as the Benevolent Overload of The Medical Humanities Club. In his spare time he works in the Resuscitation Institute at the University.
A soccer coach once told Sal, "you are pretty agile for your body type." The description was overwhelmingly accurate.
