“Radiographs serve as distilled moments of a human narrative,
An illness experience in greyscale” (From “Remnant” by Tia Forsman in the Spring 2022 Intima)
Sea glass/cutglass/eyeglass/stonefish/boomerang, Forsman’s remnants
Arrayed/x-rayed on the nightblack ocean floor of shapes and shadows.
From the French : to “rest”; to “remain”, “left over”; an underwater x-ray.
Overlapping, edges blurred, tenderly floating in an uncertain narrative.
This isn’t an x-ray. It just looks like one. Like medicine, a “grey area”
Forman is bilingual.. She paints in watercolor. She speaks in radiology.
Read moreA medical student reflects on the loss of their father to a devastating neurodegenerative disease as well as the power that music can hold during the illness experience.
Read moreA writer and father ponders the power of absence in the clinical encounter, as well as the power of presence.
Read moreHow does grace manifest itself in the clinical encounter? And what of eulogy and testimony? A psychiatrist-writer explores two poems published in this journal to find deeper meaning.
Read moreA writer revisits his childhood memories and, in doing so, reflects on the evolving relationship between parent and child as both grow older.
Read moreWhat is the physician’s role in the clinical encounter, and what is their responsibility to the patient? A physician reflects.
Read moreWhen one exists in close proximity to the pain of another, whose testimony is it? A scholar reflects on the shared experience that can result from suffering.
Read moreInspired by two pieces written by medical students, a surgeon reflects on his own experiences in medicine and the role that human touch plays in the clinical encounter.
Read more“Retrospection Series” (Fall 2019 Intima), Joseph Burns writes on undergoing open-heart surgery at age twenty-three, only two months before In he started medical school. At first, he is reluctant to share his story with his peers. “It was a secret that was contained within the walls of the physical exam simulation rooms.” But as his training moves forward, he is motivated by his experiences “to become the best physician possible…to be the one who provides care, love, compassion, and primarily hope in situations where all may seem lost.”
Read more“Of Prematurity and Parental Leave” (Intima, Fall 2021) describes the harrowing experience of giving birth to a premature baby during residency. It’s written by doctors married to each other —Dr. Campagnaro and Dr. Woodside—who co-construct a narrative by telling it from their own perspective.
Read moreI regularly attend a poetry critique group in Ann Arbor, MI called the Crazy Wisdom Poetry Circle, named after the bookstore and tea shop where we used to meet before the pandemic. The experienced poets there have come to accept the sad and overly personal poems and flash pieces I write and help me craft them into something that sometimes almost sounds like real writing. One of them once told me, “You always write from a place of longing. That’s a good place to write from.” I realized he was right. I find it hard to share what I write with the people I love. When I am in a good relationship, I write about bad ones; when I love someone, I write about missing them.
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