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

From Tigers to Otaku

Focus Narrative

From Tigers to Otaku

Parenting in Chinese Canadian immigrant families carries both triumphs and struggles, shaping children into overachievers—or isolating, withdrawn adolescents.

Dave Hsu 09.16.25

Cold Eye, Warm Heart: Medicine and Anton Chekhov

Focus Narrative

Cold Eye, Warm Heart: Medicine and Anton Chekhov

A moving portrait of Anton Chekhov, whose dual life as physician and writer reveals the deep interplay between healing and storytelling.

Jack Coulehan 08.06.25

Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever by Kathleen Sharp

Book Review Focus

Blood Feud: The Man Who Blew the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs Ever by Kathleen Sharp

A gripping account of pharmaceutical whistleblowing, corporate misconduct, and the deadly consequences of profit-driven medicine.

Jacalyn Duffin 03.18.26

The Great Influenza by John Barry

Book Review Focus

The Great Influenza by John Barry

John Barry’s The Great Influenza vividly recounts the 1918 pandemic’s medical, social, and political upheavals with novelistic precision.

Steven Field 11.03.25

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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