Join us as we revisit a classic MedHumChat from 2019 where we explore the parallels between nature and the human body.
Victoria Sweet: God's Hotel
“I was impressed by how long it took. Two and a half years. And it did take two and a half years; I can’t imagine her healing in any less time. The general rule of thumb in premodern medicine was that it took as long to heal an illness as it took for the illness to develop. Depending on how we label Terry’s illness, as transverse myelitis, as a bedsore, as drug abuse, as a poor self-image, or — what I really believe it was — as some deep spiritual wound, two and a half years was just about right.” (pg. 109)
Zachary Sager: Nurturing Medicine
“As a third-year medical student I began to keep a vegetable garden. Digging in the yard was a stress reliever, a reprieve from memorizing diseases and pathways. I’d return home from the hospital and walk through the garden pulling weeds and watering plants, and then pour over books about seed saving, composting, and canning. I watched the plants grow, flower, fruit, wilt, and eventually die, repeating each year. Over time, the garden grew, incorporating more and more plants, and then drip irrigation, compost piles, and then chickens—their shells and droppings returning to the earth, helping the garden grow. I reasoned that I could take the same approach in school and residency and apply it to gardening. The more I know, the more I can do and the more I can control.”