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Medical Humanities

Nepenthe

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C May 21, 2012

A patient with chronic pain and opiate dependence reveals to the author how much pain there is in every salvation.

25th Anniversary Poetry Competition Winners

Krista Wark Rogaski, Marti Trunnell, Christopher Wright, Brian T. Maurer, PA-C May 09, 2012

As part of JAAPA's 25th anniversary celebration the editors sponsored a poetry contest. PAs and PA students were invited to submit original poems, and the work of the three finalists is presented here.

Looking through a glass darkly, then seeing face to face

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C April 17, 2012

How do you explain to a mother your concern that her child, whom you have seen repeatedly over years, might have an underlying genetic syndrome that will profoundly impact the rest of her life?

How flowers make us better PAs

Jim Anderson, PA-C, ATC April 16, 2012

I'm finally starting to get this "humanities in medicine" thing. Maybe you got it a long time ago, but it's just coming into focus for me.

Fast food medicine

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C March 20, 2012

Hospitals are not fast food restaurants. You cannot always get what you want. But most times, if you chose to wait, you do get what you need.

Midnight medicine: A time when difficult decisions must be made

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C February 28, 2012

Moral distress: when clinicians feel they cannot do the ethically appropriate thing. Midnight medicine: when difficult decisions must be made with no time for consultation and critique.

Expiration date

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C January 24, 2012

My patient died 45 minutes after he left the ER. His death was beautiful and awful, and I remember snapshot moments that will last to eternity.

Poetry in medicine: Chapter and verse

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C December 26, 2011

Dr. Rafael Campo, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an award-winning poet, says, "Poetry does a better job in teaching because it is about embracing the human aspect of suffering, not just knowing how many lymph nodes are positive and where the pain is on a 1-to-10 scale."

An unlikely afternoon hero: When being there is good enough

December 20, 2011

In the middle of a humdrum afternoon at the office, in between sobbing febrile toddlers and heartbroken adolescents, those patients whose suffering I can do little to alleviate, momentarily I become a hero to one family.

The surgeon's  epic break

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C November 15, 2011

I am learning to roll with the punches. I am becoming more resilient, developing a degree of toughness. I hope in the process I do not forget my manners, or the tears on the face of the mother.

The butterfly effect: Beyond Dilaudid

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C September 08, 2011

We do not work alone: your work affects my work, and my work affects yours. A kind word, a harsh word, a procedure done well, cancer pain untreated; our practice has a ripple effect that spreads far beyond my workplace and yours.

Growth and development: In  pediatrics, everything starts small

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C August 24, 2011

Some things grow more quickly than others, and sometimes we have the chance to weed the garden before it's too late.

A plea for poetry in medical practice

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C August 15, 2011

It isn't that clinicians are totally thoughtless people. In many instances they just never learned to appreciate what it might be like to stand in the patient's shoes.

Saving lives with popsicles and pillows

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C July 14, 2011

Haircuts, ice chips, popsicles, and pillows; sometimes I wonder—did I go to school for this? Yes, I think I did.

Generational medicine: The year of the great-grandmother

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C June 15, 2011

I watch them walk down the hallway, this woman I have known as a mother, now as a grandmother, whose grandson still has a great grandmother of his own.

"Love the  way you lie"*

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C May 17, 2011

Is it acceptable to sacrifice the best interests of one patient to the confidentiality rights of another? Is it ethical for a clinician not to tell the truth?

Moving beyond critique

Noel J. Genova, MA, PA-C May 12, 2011

Coming out of church a few weeks ago, I received a call from my daughter, a freshman nursing student in Boston. She'd had a tough week.

The art of medicine: Having faith in the seeds we plant

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C April 13, 2011

A visit from an 8-year-old patient reminds the author that in medicine as in the natural world, every seed germinates in its own time.

Imaging the appendix

Alexandra Godfrey, MS, PA-C March 16, 2011

The laying on of hands is essential to learning the art of medicine. If clinicians do not practice this art, how can they hope to become skilled diagnosticians?

Telling it slant: Using poetry  as a venue for healing

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C April 27, 2010

When the author is invited to speak to a local boy scout troop, he uses poetry to find a pathway in to a difficult subject.

Charlotte's Web: Lessons learned from a pig and a spider

Sarah Zarbock, PA-C April 07, 2010

Skilled communication is especially critical during conversations with children and their families about life-threatening and terminal conditions. How can E.B. White's classic children tale make you a better communicator?

A grief observed: A belated bill must finally be paid

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C February 25, 2010

An encounter with a patient last seen 6 years previously reminds the author that there's no escaping grief. It always catches up with us.

Evaluating the patient with a measure of equanimity

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C December 29, 2009

The author reflects that no matter how many times he has examined a child who has been abused, the experience doesn't get any easier.

Piecing together confusing symptoms

Kay Christian, MS, PC-C December 08, 2009

The author reflects on the pain and confusion her family experienced watching her sister struggle with frontotemporal dementia.

A jaundiced view: More than meets the clinician's eye

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C October 28, 2009

The author reflects on just how much he has left to learn about how a disease can impact the lives of those who suffer from it.

A Day in the Life: Alexandra Godfrey, BSc, PT

Alexandra Godfrey, BSc, PT October 14, 2009

A day in both the anatomy lab and the hospital teaches this student how a constant awareness of illness, suffering, and loss will be part of being a PA.

Rhyme and reason: Searching for poems in medical practice

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C August 20, 2009

A teen-age patient presents with fatigue and malaise. Her vague symptoms do not lead to a diagnosis, but the poem gleaned from her care is a treasured gift.

Face to face: Glimpsing the man behind the mask

Brian T. Maurer, PA-C June 09, 2009

The author reflects on how deceiving outward appearances can be after watching the interaction between a little girl and her disfigured parent.

Finding the place where both truth and hope reside

Sarah Zarbock, PA-C April 14, 2009

At each point along the path of providing medical care, PAs have an opportunity to recognize and respond to our patient's perceptions, reactions, and concerns and to adjust our care accordingly.