Intima Archives / FIELD NOTES A-L by title
A Bundle of Leaves | Scott Pearson | SPRING 2020
Memories have staying power, writes a cancer surgeon, who learns a lasting one from a farmer undergoing treatment. A gift of a sheaf of tobacco from the patient has lasting impact for him as he teaches doctors-to-be.
A Difficult Conversation | Kelly Elterman | SPRING 2021
No longer the child or the grandchild: Taking on a new role for a clinician means finding the words to initiate an end-of-life talk with her family.
A Familiar Accent | Edith Bracho-Sanchez | SPRING 2015
Who speaks for the patient? A young doctor takes on the role of translator during Neurology rounds.
A Friend in the Sun | Roshni Ray | SPRING 2022
A medical student diagnoses a common human ailment in the hopeful story.
Alarum | Chris Wong | FALL 2021
An overhead hospital announcement haunts a medical team’s daily rounds, prompting reflection on care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alice | Hannah Dischinger | FALL 2021
Faced with COVID-19, a patient reveals his only family.
Alice | Wil Gibb | SPRING 2023
The last moments of a patient: how documentation can remind us of the preciousness of our time with others.
A Limp and A Death at Eagle Butte Reservation | Nathan Szajnberg | FALL 2017
A descriptive foray into the cultural disparities in medicine, and the intimate observance of the Native American experience.
A Parent’s Trust | Prerana Chatty | SPRING 2019
Listening to an infant’s heart murmur, a medical student grapples with her patient’s trust in her and her own trust in herself
A Patient Too Close to Home | Richard Cassidy | FALL 2012
During his training, a medical student meets a family who stirs up his memories.
A Perfect Distance | Grace Kao | SPRING 2017
Encounters between two daughters of immigrants unfold much like the creases and folds of the origami they share as one counsels another.
As (Not) Seen On TV | Robert Spencer | SPRING 2017
Much of medicine is trial and error: It's a lesson a young doctor learns early.
A Selfless Goodbye | Pooja Reddy | FALL 2014
Can we plan a "good" death, one that isn't a burden on our family and friends? A reflection.
A Shot of Perspective | Jordana Kritzer | SPRING 2021
An emergency doctor delivers the vaccine, and her own truth, about the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Spanish Lesson | Jerold Lundgren and Joseph Featherall | FALL 2012
On a language trip to Guatemala, a team of doctors learns much more about communication than how to speak Spanish.
A Student's Moment in NYC's Most Famous Hospital | Brian Sou | FALL 2014
Some patients flinch at the sight of a needle. A med student sees it happen and acts compassionately.
A Tale of Three Breasts | Carol Scott-Conner | SPRING 2015
There is a subjectivity in the way we see the body, as a group of surgeons and oncologists demonstrate.
A Three-Stranded Cord Is Not Quickly Broken | Angela Cooke-Jackson, Taylor McMahon and Dana Mendes | FALL 2016
Co-constructing an illness narrative with meaning: A collaborative project weaves different perspectives and narrative forms together to share a young woman's experience with cancer.
Approaching New Horizons | Mario de la Cruz | FALL 2011
What exactly is Narrative Medicine and how is it implemented? One practitioner describes its influence.
The Arc of Serenity | Joy Liu | SPRING 2017
An elderly patient teaches a doctor important life lessons.
Bad Lungs | Kany Aziz | FALL 2017
"I thought my lungs were good. So why are the doctors saying that they are bad?"
Béatrice the Elderly Outlier | Brian Deady | FALL 2021
Longevity lesson: A 102-year-old’s patient’s story may not offer the secret to aging well but gives her provider some inspiration.
Black Tango | Philip Berry | FALL 2020
An unexpected twist on the anticipated end-of-life conversation.
The Boxer | Aniqa Azim | SPRING 2022
A provider struggles to reconcile the patient she sees in front of her and the man he once was.
Brandon’s Last Doctor | Lauren Gambill | FALL 2019
A doctor slows down to reflect on a ritual of care.
Bright is the Ring of Words | Richard Westcott | SPRING 2017
A retired family doctor in England invites the reader to enjoy the flavor of words.
Bubbles | Rachel Fleishman | SPRING 2020
Issues of life and death become heightened when a baby is involved: One clinician describes a moment of heartbreak, and the resolve that came from witnessing an incident early in her career.
The Bubbling Fire in the Bone Marrow | Albert Howard Carter III | SPRING 2016
Meet Frank, a cancer patient, through the eyes of his massage therapist, a cancer survivor himself.
Can You Count to Ten? | Alan Chien | FALL 2022
Nothing short of magic happens during one medical student’s pediatrics rotation.
Candace | Jutta Braun | SPRING 2017
A nurse reflects on an early patient experience, and on what she’s learned since.
The Cat Doctor | Hans Steiner | SPRING 2015
Sometimes knowledge is gained, not lost, in translation: An intern gets a lesson in lingo.
Charon | Katherine Fair | SPRING 2023
It’s a dance of diplomatic delicacy with the next of kin: creating a form of closure for the bereaved.
The Choice | Keenan Whitesides | SPRING 2014
Do you mean I have a choice? A simple question gives a patient a brief respite from the routine of the hospital.
Choices | David Howard | FALL 2017
Here is what happens when the personal and professional worlds of a hospital volunteer suddenly collide.
Cigarettes, Coffee, Cookies and a Good Rest | Florence Gelo | SPRING 2020
While researching the way art might open up stories for hospice patients, a researcher unlocks meaningful and surprising results.
Close | Alexandra DeFelice | SPRING 2022
An experience with a patient makes a medical student desperate to reach out to her own family - but can they understand why?
Collector's Envy | Emily Milam | SPRING 2017
Patients are more than just a diagnosis at our educational disposal.
The Color Purple | Paul Rousseau | FALL 2016
Diagnoses are nothing more than the story of life, colored by the pain of disease... and occasionally other things.
Confined | Rebecca Grossman-Kahn | SPRING 2020
A doctor reflects on what it means to be unable to act freely — for whatever reason.
The Crash | Jake Minor | SPRING 2017
A soon-to-be medical student struggles with the indignity of his father's last months with cancer.
Death is Usually An Easy Diagnosis | Liana Meffert | FALL 2022
Grief, love and finding the right words: Details of the moments after a male patient’s death.
Death’s Other Kingdom: Reflections on Uncertainty in Pathology | Benjamin Mazer | SPRING 2019
Going beneath the surface: A surgical pathologist dissects the metaphors of the vocation.
Disequilibrium| William Fyfe | FALL 2017
A medical student searches for balance among the residents of a mental hospital.
Doctoring and Disobedience | Lisa Jacobs | SPRING 2020
To say or not to say: That is the question when a young clinician weighs the consequences of telling a patient she is dying rather than staying silent as she is told to do.
Don't Worry, At Least We Will Die Together! | David Hilden | SPRING 2017
One doctor's journey to connect medical education between the United States and the Middle East has many terrifying (but also numerous humorous) moments.
Dying Well: Choose Your Beverage | Esther Park & Gladys Rodriguez | SPRING 2015
We learn about the conflicts and profound contradictions every doctor faces in end-of-life care.
Entry Points | A. Scott Pearson | FALL 2016
The ultimate challenge: Finding the connection to a patient's world in the most stressful moments.
Ethics Consult: To Tell or Not To Tell | Ellen Kolton | FALL 2013
It's a quandary doctors often face: Whether or not to reveal information to a family about a patient whose privacy will then be violated.
Everyone Speaks Dog | Laurel Hunt | SPRING 2022
It’s not surprising what a therapy dog can bring to medical care but this lovingly told tale underscores it.
Facelessness | Jamie Uhrig | FALL 2021
When the ability to see each other’s faces means everything: A reflection on how masks detract from clinical encounters.
Faith in Nursing | Sarah Christensen | FALL 2018
Ash Wednesday takes on special meaning for a pediatric oncology nurse in this exploration of faith and mortality.
“Father and Daughter”: Loss and Longing in a Short Animation | Robert C. Abrams | FALL 2021
What a short animation teach a geriatrician-psychiatrist about providing care to his elderly patients.
Field Notes on Form | Selene Frost | SPRING 2021
Poetry transforms a surgeon’s sense of language and engagement in the clinical realm.
Food is Love | Sarah Holdren | FALL 2019
The societal rules and institutionalization melts away in the act of breastfeeding.
For the Old Man Buying a Stuffed Giraffe | Ben Goldenberg | SPRING 2022
What stuffed animal brings most comfort to a patient? A physician watches as a decision is made.
Full Code | Hillary Mullan | SPRING 2021
Every death carries its own distinct weight.
Getting to Know Dying | Anna Belc | SPRING 2018
Arrivals and departures are a way of life in a hospital. In this story, a labor and delivery nurse thinks deeply about knowing when the end is near.
Getting Steamy with Dr. Uhthoff | Meredith O'Brien | SPRING 2017
A 19th-century German doctor, hot bath tests, and MS flares: a weather report of an illness.
Glitterless | Supreetha Gubbala | SPRING 2019
A young medical student struggles to reconcile her many identities in the “sea of white” she sees in her classmates.
The Goses | Gerard Spiniello | FALL 2014
To honor a rabbi’s beliefs or end his suffering? An M.D. guides a family through a spiritual dilemma.
Gratitude | Samuel Payne | SPRING 2020
How do we handle the thanks we receive from a ‘perfect’ patient? A doctor weighs the ambivalence healthcare workers feel about being thankful when encountering a less-than-perfect outcome.
Growths | Cecile Yama | FALL 2020
A resident finds solace in her urban garden.
Hand Holding | Amanda Swain FALL 2019
A clinician contemplates the healing power of touch.
Hands Caked With Mud | Jack Mierl | SPRING 2022
Through the muck, a medical student catches a glimpse of…
Harvest | William Bachman | FALL 2022
A physician reflects on shame and grief in the aftermath of an organ donation procedure.
Heart Failure | Rachel Conrad | SPRING 2014
A Buddhist story helps a clinician come to terms with burnout and insensitivity.
Hematopapyrus And Other Medical Jargon | Jonathan Katz | FALL 2016
See if you can guess what it means: A medical student introduces new medical jargon.
Her Eyes | Frank Baudino | FALL 2022
Cultural differences are reflected in a memory a doctor carries for years.
The Highway | Michael Enich | FALL 2018
A young doctor in training remembers a lesson learned from a formative encounter.
Hot Stones and Cold Rice | Rose Jones | SPRING 2017
Wrestling with the challenges of integrating culture into patient care, using lessons learned in St. Lucia.
How to Solve a Medical Mystery | Brian Deady | SPRING 2022
The “white doughnut machine” allows doctors to easily diagnose once a CT scan reveals what lies beneath. But does the art of medicine —and a clinician’s engagement —get lost in the process?
Hunger | Jennifer Abernathy | FALL 2022
How hunger brings a trace of home even in a place as foreign as a hospital.
I Carry Your Heart With Me | Margaux Danby | SPRING 2021
After shadowing a surgeon during a transplant, a young woman reflects on what she has learned.
The Idea of Him | H. Reade Joo | SPRING 2021
An unexpected death leads to a meditation on love and loss.
If the Body Is: Words of Gratitude for Our Body Donors | Carissa Holland | FALL 2018
An adoring love letter to the wonders of the body
Imaginary Rooms | Grace Li | SPRING 2020
The adage ‘practice makes perfect’ doesn’t necessarily apply as a medical student greets her ‘patients’ in practice sessions.
I Miss Touching My Patients | Kajsa Vlasic | FALL 2020
How much is lost when a pediatric doctor can’t touch her patients? A lot.
I Need to Tell This Story | Katherine Guess | FALL 2014
Her own medical trauma informs the way a clinician looks and listens.
In the Pink | Charlotte Crowder | FALL 2019
A patient reflects about pink ribbons, waiting rooms, and mammogram results.
It’s Not That | Katherine Guzman | SPRING 2022
When a patient’s story hits too close to home.
Joy Smile | Clara Baselga-Garriga | SPRING 2023
While in training, a medical student learns there are two kinds of smiles.
Kali Narrative: Creativity in Crisis | Shilpa Darivemula and Tanvi Gandhi | FALL 2020
Practitioners turn to ancient mythology to understand contemporary patients.
The Lady In Pink | Anne-Laure Talbot | SPRING 2013
A critical lesson is learned through a seemingly routine encounter.
Lauds | Kristen Zeller | FALL 2021
Discover the rhythmic routines of a surgical lead culminating in the humble ritual of a simple prayer.
Lea Rose | Laura Vater | FALL 2021
From the voiceless faces of the ICU, charcoal digits speak and pull a physician back from the precipice of detachment.
Lily Darwin | Elizabeth Lahti | SPRING 2018
Listening to an elderly patient's stories of the past enables a hospitalist to help her heal in the present.
The Little Nowhere of the Mind | Kenneth Weinberg | FALL 2012
An ode to house calls and the way each one may enrich, transform and direct a doctor's life.
The Long Ride | Ali Tahvildari | FALL 2017
A doctor's internal journey of risk and uncertainty raises questions for all clinicians.
Love and Medicine | Jennifer Stella | SPRING 2014
Getting to know you: A doctor considers ways to understand a patient's past life before illness.