medhum.org – Cultivating empathy & critical thinking in health, culture & the arts

The Medical Humanities Review

A public voice cultivating empathy & critical thinking in health, culture & the arts

The Medical Humanities Review ➔

A public voice cultivating empathy & critical thinking in health, culture & the arts

Hands

Hands

During the clinic visit, the patient map unfurls, their hands leaving little clues.

Colin Killeen 08.11.26

Summer 2026 Biblioscopy

Summer 2026 Biblioscopy

New books highlighting illness poetry, the toll on compassion extracted during medical training, and the emotional burden of illness on family members

Tony Miksanek 08.03.26

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney

Children’s literature offers a lens into public perception and experience of childhood infectious diseases as we face a resurgence of these same illnesses today.

Gretl Lam 07.28.26

Three Paintings by Edvard Munch

Three Paintings by Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch transformed personal family tragedies into haunting paintings that reveal illness, grief, isolation, and enduring emotional suffering.

Felice Aull 07.23.26

In Focus ➔

In Focus ➔ Expect the Unexpected

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

International adoption from China arose amid policy-driven abandonment, later fostering trafficking incentives and coerced family separations.

Dave Hsu 01.12.26

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

Book Review Focus

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

This essay collection explores living with severe mental illness, blending memoir, cultural critique, and reflections on resilience, treatment, and identity.

Guy Glass 09.15.25

When AIDS Activism Went Inside a Hospital: Ward 5B at San Francisco General

Film Review Focus

When AIDS Activism Went Inside a Hospital: Ward 5B at San Francisco General

Documentary recounts San Francisco’s Ward 5B, where nurses and activists humanized AIDS care amid fear.

Russell Teagarden 03.23.26

Second Life by Amanda Hess

Book Review Focus

Second Life by Amanda Hess

A powerful blend of memoir and critique, Amanda Hess examines pregnancy, technology, and parenting amid modern medicine’s promises and digital noise.

Carol Schilling 09.09.25

A Call for Submissions: We invite you to share your work or propose a topic. Your ideas can help us explore the issues that matter most in medical humanities ➔

Reviews ➔

Reviews ➔

We Want So Much to Be Ourselves by Stephen O’Connor

We Want So Much to Be Ourselves by Stephen O’Connor

Love, Duty and Psychoanalysis in Third Reich Berlin

Steven Field 07.21.26

How The Doctor Rose From Grave Robber To Great Man

How The Doctor Rose From Grave Robber To Great Man

Arrowsmith (1925) marks a dramatic shift in the American imagination from viewing scientific doctors as monsters to viewing them as…

Joshua Doležal 07.09.26

Articles ➔

Articles ➔

Isles-Second Fragment

Isles-Second Fragment

A watchful partner, a curse, a part of everything all at once, in sickness and in health.

José Luis Marín Aznárez 07.07.26

Two Long-Hidden Stories about Barriers to Health Care Surface and Still Relate

Two Long-Hidden Stories about Barriers to Health Care Surface and Still Relate

Two unknown stories from the past forewarn of problems in health care ahead.

Russell Teagarden 06.09.26

Interviews ➔

Interviews ➔

Rethinking Mental Illness: Interview with Dr. Gavin Francis

Practitioner Interview Video

Rethinking Mental Illness: Interview with Dr. Gavin Francis

In his chair at the clinic, Dr. Gavin Francis sees the mind as much less fragile than the…

Rudy Malcom 07.14.26

Meet the Medhum Team: Dr. Tony Miksanek

Practitioner Interview

Meet the Medhum Team: Dr. Tony Miksanek

Writer, runner, and medical humanities advocate explores storytelling, trust, vulnerability, and the human side of care.

Dave Hsu 06.26.26

Podcasts ➔

Podcasts ➔

Factors Underlying Mental Orders Depicted in Pink Floyd’s The Wall

Factors Underlying Mental Orders Depicted in Pink Floyd’s The Wall

Using Pink Floyd’s The Wall, this episode explores psychiatric diagnosis through music, film, trauma, and medical education.

Russell Teagarden 07.15.26

Consumptive Heroines: Opera and TB with Drs Linda and Michael Hutcheon

Consumptive Heroines: Opera and TB with Drs Linda and Michael Hutcheon

This podcast explores tuberculosis’ impact on opera, focusing on La Traviata and La Bohème, examining medical and cultural…

Russell Teagarden 06.22.26

Explore ➔

Explore ➔

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