A pediatric emergency physician reflects on the enduring power and comfort of Mary Oliver’s poetry during difficult times.
Read moreThe Luxury of Walking Away: An MS4 meditates on time, isolation and the comforts of home
A medical student contemplates her roles as a physician-in-training and learns to appreciate the privilege she possesses—unlike her patients—in walking away from the clinical space.
Read moreWhere do you turn for comfort? A reflection on Popsicles, Tater Tots and hospital gift shops by internist Ben Goldenberg
“Sometimes the job we do isn’t about fixing what’s wrong but rather helping each other survive within the confines of our brokenness.” Artwork: The Art of Being Here by Kirilee West Spring 2022 Intima
Read moreSurprising Behavior in the Pandemic
A palliative care nurse analyzes poetry and studio art created in response to the ongoing pandemic—and appreciates how these different pieces generate surprising parallels.
Read moreOn Imagined Boundaries: A reflection on "the body as a narrative instrument" by Tony Errichetti
A medical educator reflects on studio art recently published in the Intima and examines the boundaries—real or imagined?—often constructed between mind and body.
Read moreWaiting: A reflection on anticipating a diagnosis by poet RN Amy Haddad
A nurse, poet, and educator ponders the lot of patients—one that often includes loss of identity, dislocation in time and space, and of course, waiting.
Read moreThe Chance to Say Goodbye... or Not: Thoughts about being prepared—or surprised— by death by end-of-life doula Virginia Chang
An end-of-life doula reflects on their experiences with dying patients and concludes by offering three life lessons.
Read moreExploring End-of-Life themes in "Nay Nay's Rebirth," a short story by Sara Lynne Wright
A retired surgeon reflects on a short story published in this journal—and in doing so, also contemplates how a comfortable and humane death can be fulfilled at the end of life.
Read morePoems Help Us Deal with Change and Choice by Anne Corey
A writer advocates for the power of poetry—as well as its curious ability to make us better accept uncertainty, mystery, and even ourselves.
Read moreThe Sincerity of A Great Story: A Reflection on “A Life” by Judith Hannah Weiss
A writer analyzes a piece of fiction published in this journal—and comes to discover the power contained within each line of writing.
Read moreSavoring Sunset: A reflection on saying goodbye by physician assistant Sara Lynne Wright
A physician assistant ruminates about the cycle of life, of sunrise and sunset—and how we can better appreciate each waking moment.
Read moreA Sound Mind in a Sound Body, a reflection by poet Anastasia Vassos
© Pillar of Light by Jacqueline Pflaum-Carlson. Spring 2022 Intima
A writer and poet finds inspiration in the body’s architecture and corporeal underpinnings.
Read moreThe Gifts Reserved for Age: A Reflection by Richard Scott Morehead
A professor of medicine reminisces about his former student, whose work appears alongside his own in this very journal.
Read moreWho Knows How the Body Turns? A Reflection on Lyme and Rheumatoid Arthritis by Sheila Luna
A writer living with rheumatoid arthritis finds companionship in another writer living with Lyme disease. Although these two diseases may be different, they continue to manifest in similar ways.
Read morePoets on Poets: A Look Back and Forward by Ellen Goldsmith
A poet reflects on what companion poets and their poetry can offer us in the face of unexpected illness and loss.
Read moreWhat's a "Good Patient"? A Reflection by Jacqueline Ellis
A scholar wonders if and how she can become her doctor’s favorite patient—and what that may mean for the sacred patient-physician relationship.
Read moreHow to "Do" Breast Cancer by Dena Brownstein
A retired physician not only examines her personal experience with cancer, but also questions whether there is a single “right” way to perform a cancer diagnosis.
Read moreOn Caring and Suffering by Michael Evans, William Doan, Kiernan Riley, Kalei Kowalchik, and Logan DeSanto
A nurse offers a plea in the face of a worsening pandemic and increasing burnout among healthcare professionals.
Read moreThe Hospital Gift Shop: An Unlikely Refuge by Maureen Hirthler
An emergency physician fondly looks back on an unlikely refuge within the hospital: the gift shop.
Read moreWhat’s the Right Way to Die? And Where? A reflection by poet Kathryn Paul
Can we decide where we should die? A writer and former caregiver reflects on offering comfort during one’s final moments.
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