Inside the Obesity Crisis
Re-framing weight-management
Human to Human
The in-the-moment challenges of juggling clinical and individual readings of a patient whilst developing clinical insights and consultation skills
Can They Feel The Change?
A haiku about anxiety in the current coronavirus pandemic
They Are the Brave
A deeply reflective analysis of patients’ vulnerability and hope within clinical care. Hard-won personal insight has integrated this tension in a simple, poignant and artful poem
The corridors of death
Clinical encounters during a child’s journey with a life-limiting disability raises questions around the dissonance of the hospital environment
Bubble
A hospital visit to a friend profoundly altered bodily and mentally whilst being treated for an eating disorder
The D.R.
The poet processes her first time in the Dissection Room
Breaking News
Concern around physical and mental exhaustion impairing future sensitive communications with patients and relatives
My Pain
A young woman’s incapacitating and unvoiced pain – reflection on the need for trust between doctor and patient to achieve vital diagnosis and support
My Mistake
Hypothetical exploration of a young patient dying due to the poet’s oversight
Im Abendrot (Eichendorff)
Thoughts around embracing death and learning from the wisdom of age
Fire and Snow
The early trauma of visiting the poet’s mother’s in hospital re-visited
Doubt
A young doctor on a ward feeling inadequate and overwhelmed despite his committment to the medical profession
Dear Diary
Prose in diary form – composite fictional account. based on observations of patients in an oncology clinic
Happy Birthday Helen
Considering the shortened life of the author’s elder sister
Attention: This Building is Unsafe and Likely to Collapse
A daughter shares how her mother handled terminal lung disease both through writing poetry and publishing practical ideas to support family and friends through a cancer diagnosis
Songs of Courage
Healing through music therapy inspires a student’s poem
The Meeting
How an isolated, shared experience, albeit brief – can forge a unique bond and impact on your life
A Little Boy, A Little Time
The heart-wrenching impact of encountering young children with life limiting AIDS/HIV upon the author
Loss
The unexpected emotional impact of a family doctor’s concern for a man whose wife died of cancer
Flight
Humorous account of a daughter/carer leaving this role after much provocation
Living with Alcoholism
The author’s experience as child/carer alongside her mother’s addiction
Thirst
Poem about author’s initial denial of diabetes
This is your Grandad
The death of a grandparent highlights tensions between bio-medical knowledges and personal loss.
How Am I?
Prose inspired by meeting a distraught, terminally-ill mother who had just given birth
The Ripple Effect
Conflicts and complexity of care – inspired by a mother’s personal experience
CANCER?
A medical student’s mixed response to his mother’s suspected cancer diagnosis
The Appearance of Disease
A student visualises patients from their medical notes pre-consultation
Rescue
The initial disconnecting and isolating aspect of pain and illness – and relief when a web of support emerges
Alive
‘The miracle of life is not to live – but to be alive’: the doctor’s role in supporting patients to address self-depleting patterns
Sun-Spun
The poet observes a child with autism absorbed in play and feels privileged to be invited to join her world
A New Beginning
Birth and death, joy and grief – bound up in exceptional circumstances
Big Black Dogs
Metaphorical musing around depression as something which cannot be shaken off
Abnormal
Concern for a young woman patient living with chronic pain and skin disfigurement – compounded by a detached parent
The Future
An emergency hospitalization where the patient is unaware of gravity of her condition
A Real Person Too
A young addict unexpectedly finds understanding from the medical profession
Daytime Television
A stark domestic insight into the realities of supporting a loved one with acquired disability
Valerie
Narrative inspired by a profoundly disabled patient – insights around being a passive recipient of multiple interventions
There was a man…
Insights into the role of humour in clinical practice, and its relation to the trust placed in healthcare professionals
Mum
Searingly honest poem about a son’s changing relationship with his mother after she has a severe stroke
Finding the Pain
Insights from patient drawings bring the impact of clinical consultations to the fore
A Vision Gained
A multi-sensory re-evaluation of a grandmother’s visual ‘dis’ability