A writer revisits his childhood memories and, in doing so, reflects on the evolving relationship between parent and child as both grow older.
Read moreThe Gordian Knot in Healthcare: A reflection by critical care clinician & writer Cynthia Stock
A former critical care nurse attempts to untangle the Gordian knots found within medicine by close reading two pieces—including her own—published in this very journal.
Read moreDesensitization to the Face of Death: A reflection by poet and medical student Catherine Read
A medical student examines the desensitization that imbues the study and practice of medicine—and advocates against it.
Read moreOn Brian Ascalon Roley’s "Caregiving"
A pediatric emergency physician reflects on the burning intensity found at the heart of caregiving.
Read moreLeading Change in Healthcare Through a Healing Nature
A pharmacist fiercely advocates for lasting change via a healing framework.
Read moreWhen Visuals Become Verbal: The Art of Communicating Emotional States of Mind by Barbara West
© Blue Pajama Series - Crowd by Rachel Wyman Fall 2021 Intima
A writer and hospice nurse explores the parallels between one of her essays published in Intima and a studio art series previously published in this journal.
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 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 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 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.
Read moreTo Enhance, Supplement, and Support
What is the physician’s role in the clinical encounter, and what is their responsibility to the patient? A physician reflects.
Read moreThe Wisdom of the Pomegranate: A Reflection on Poetry and Mothers by Sina Foroutanjazi
The void, the empty feeling of loss; this is perhaps what connects Ceren Ege’s Dictum Wisdom (Intima, Fall 2021) and Pomegranate Protocol (Intima, Fall 2021) above and beyond their chronological relationship.
Read moreWhat the Dying Need by Rachel Prince
Shortly after reading Vigil, I stumbled upon Sara Baker’s poem, “What Do the Dying Want?” (Spring 2015). In this work, Baker explores the titular question by wondering how healthcare professionals, hospice workers, or even caregivers and family members can properly address the needs of the dying – is the correct way through words and stories, reminiscing, music, meaningful touch, or just holding space and being present?
Read moreWays of Knowing (and Not Knowing) When the Prognosis is Terminal by writer PK Kennedy
"Right in here, remove your clothes. Underwear and bra can stay on but put the robe on so it's open in the back, not the front, okay?"
The words are coming at me in a torrent; I can’t understand any of them, but I know the drill.
I throw my stuff in a bag, take a deep breath, and open the door to the inpatient surgical waiting room. It smells like alcohol and ice and has no memories I can sense. Am I the first person that’s ever come here?
“You’re here for the lumbar?”
I cut her off before she could say puncture. "Yes."
Read moreWritten in the Stars: A Reflection on Youth Cancer by Will Moody
For every young adult diagnosed with cancer, a time comes when we ask ourselves a question.
Why?
Why did this happen to me? Why now? They are not questions we want an answer to, but as humans, we crave finding meaning in our lives. We do it because the alternative is accepting that cosmic randomness determines our very breath.
Why did this happen to me? Why now? They are not questions we want an answer to, but as humans, we crave finding meaning in our lives. We do it because the alternative is accepting that cosmic randomness determines our very breath.
Read morePlaying Favorites: When Caregivers Recognize a Wider Capacity to Love by Flo Gelo
“The Favorite” (Spring 2021 Intima) by clinician Amy Tubay is a story about having one. It’s a story about the defiant heart—how certain patients enter our affections in ways that are largely mysterious. That love—a love that overrides rules and regulations—isn't something we pay enough attention to in the health professions.
Read moreGetting it Right, Even When it Feels Wrong: A Reflection by poet Ceren Ege
In his video “Inside Anxiety and Depression,” William Doan’s words “writing is drawing” were a reminder of my existence as a poet and artist, and how the latter is an identity I felt uncomfortable with for a long time. I squirmed at the creation of “art” out of another’s suffering, even though my father’s illness felt like the only thing worth writing about. Now I sit with a different question: whether anyone’s suffering is entirely separate. I think owning suffering defeats the very aim of why we move it to articulation—to release it, to divide the burden of it, and to comprehend it with others.
Read moreOut of Time? A reflection about illness and its toll on our past, present and future by Sophia Wilson
In her observant poem “Brain as Timepiece (Administering the Clock-Drawing Test to My Patient With Dementia)” (Intima, Fall 2018), Jennifer Wolkin describes the disordered clockface drawn by a patient with dementia: each number stands outside its perimeter like lost digits. The patient’s subsequent drawing of an ‘X’ over the wayward numbers suggests an erasure, not only of cognitive function, but of time itself. Time’s toll equates to a ‘crossing out’ of past, present and future as the ‘disease devours …organ tissue’.
Read more