Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Aging, Society and Film

If you are fortunate enough to live in or near The Village Bautiful, you will enjoy the free film series at the Milne Library starting on Thursday, April 11, 2013.

Hosted by Dr. Mel Krant the syllabus covers:
Week 1 Immortality. Clips from 'Close Encounters of 3rd Kind' and 'Cacoon'
Week 2 Aging in the traditional world. 'Ballad of Marayama'
Week 3 Dementia. 'On Golden Pond', and 'Iris'
Week 4 Transplants. 'Dirty. Pretty Things'
Week 5  Physician-Assisted suicide. Documentary on Switzerland

For questions, please contact Mel Krant.

Medicine as Theatre

Medicine and the Movies
Musings from Rob Norman

Medicine is like theater, there is a lot of behind the scenes production before you enter the stage of the patient room.

Sometimes I think we should have popcorn all the time at the office, because it is like a movie with an often challenging array of characters. Most of the time I work inside a creative movie I can step into and change the plot and action, and the good guys generally win. Bit players come and go, performances light up the exam rooms, speeches and quips rivaling Shakespeare at times erupt, and the potential for drama is always at hand. Problems are handled with equanimity, and like a good plane flight, we get through any turbulence and land safely at the end of the day.

Contact Rob Norman (Dermatologist, Tampa, Florida)

Marginal Notes: The Descendants

Imagine that you are a 40-something lawyer, married with two daughters, living on the island of Oahu, and the sole administrator of a century old land trust; somewhat estranged from your wife, who recently incurred a head injury in a boating accident that landed her in the ICU.

You find yourself suddenly cast in the role of primary parent, unsure as to how to relate to your rebellious children in your wife’s absence; when you discover that your wife was having an extramarital affair. To complicate matters a bit further, your wife’s physician informs you that your wife has been declared brain-dead. Soon life support will be withdrawn and she will be allowed to die.  more»

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for 32 years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Marginal Notes: The Way

Emilio Estevez's 2010 epic cinematic journey “The Way”unfolds along the panoramic backdrop of el Camino de Santiago—the Way of Saint James—the medieval pilgrimage route across northern Spain to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela where the remains of the Apostle are interred.

Filmed on location against the gorgeous landscapes of northern Spain, the spiritual journey of American ophthalmologist Thomas Avery (Martin Sheen) begins as he is called from the comforts of his California home to Saint Jean Pied de Port in France to identify the body of his only son Daniel (Emilio Estevez). Avery elects to walk the Camino on behalf of his son, embarking with Daniel’s ashes which he dutifully portions out along the way.  more»

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for 32 years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Marginal Notes: Streets of Philadelphia

Back in my room on the 14^th floor of the hotel I stood at the window and looked down on the gleaming streets of the city.  I thought about the man I had seen slumped over a makeshift cardboard sign on which was scrawled one word:  “Hungry.”  A tangled mass of black hair emanated from the back of his stocking cap, his coat was marred with grease stains, his ankles showed white between the tattered cuffs of his trousers and the tops of his dirty sneakers.  When I dropped a few coins into the plastic bowl in his lap, he barely stirred. In thirty years the streets of Philadelphia haven’t changed much. >>more

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for thirty years.  His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

MedFlix

MedFlix is a humane medicine and film blog which is intended to foster patient-centered care for premedical students, medical students, trainees, physicians, other care givers, patients and their families. We gratefully accept additions to this database from our readers.

Witch Hunt: When the Justice System is Criminal

Witch Hunt is coming to a TV near you!

MSNBC:  Sunday night - April 12, 2009

10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific

This documentary produced by Dana Nachman and Don Hardy and narrated by Sean Penn chronicles the unraveling of a small town's justice system. The main characters in this new non-fiction film are working class parents, moms and dads, who were all wrongly convicted of child molestation in the early 1980s in the town of Bakersfield, California. Each of these falsely convicted people was recklessly pursued by the same Kern County District Attorney who remains in office today. "Witch Hunt" is a true crime drama, where the real criminals were the authorities, themselves.

Starting in 1984 at the height of child molestation hysteria, the local District Attorney used this sensational crime in order to get himself elected by preying on these innocent families and convincing an easily swayed public of their crimes. These innocent citizens served unwarranted lengthy prison time from 6 years to 20 years in some of California's most horrendous prisons, ultimately resulting in tremendous hardships for themselves and their loved ones leaving everyone emotionally and psychologically damaged for life. Miraculously, after lengthy court battles and the uncovering of evidence left out of the initial trials, each person was finally exonerated. However, they have yet to receive an apology from those who wrongfully convicted them. "Witch Hunt" promises to be a heart-wrenching story about wrongful persecution, an unbalanced justice system, coercion, and at the same time, endurance and hope that this type of injustice can be stopped.

  It is the story of John Stoll, Jeffrey Modahl, Brenda and Scott Kniffen, Marcella and Rick Pitts, Jack and Jackie Cummings and their children and families whose lives were ruined and turned upside down for decades by a system they trusted. John Stolll and Jeff Modahl have now dedicated their lives to helping other falsely convicted innocents to get their day in court.

"Witch Hunt" is directed and produced by first time feature filmmakers Dana Nachman and Don Hardy. The film is narrated and executive produced by Oscar winner Sean Penn ("Mystic River").

medflix.blogger.com

MedFlix is a humane medicine and film blog which is intended to foster patient-centered care for premedical students, medical students, trainees, physicians, other care givers, patients and their families. We gratefully accept additions to this database from our readers.

Fistula: A Silent Epidemic

 

Ethiopian Woman in Fistula Hospital

In his new book, "Cutting for Stone," Abraham Verghese draws a character, Shiva Praise Stone, a self-taught uneducated fistula surgeon.  Reading the sections dealing with obstetrical fistulae, I recalled a fine article which appeared in the NY Times a few years back.  This story, I am sure, was Verghese's inspiration for the Shiva Stone character.

For more, go to the 2005 article "The Illiterate Surgeon" and be sure to click on the Multimedia piece. (NY Times, June 12, 2005, N. Kristoff)

A second article compliments this fine piece:  "Alone and Ashamed"

and this was updated in 2007: Tea With Mother Theresa

You can get yet further  information on the  web site of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and from the film "A Walk to Beautiful."

Fast forward to the NY Times Journal of Humane Medicine, February 24, 2009: After a Devastating Birth Injury, Hope, by Denise Grady.  Strangely, this moving piece does not mention the other Times articles or the documentary, but it, too is worth reading.  It has a fine audio-visual supplement, in addition.

(Photo:  At Healing Mission in Tanzania for women with fistulae. NY Times 24 Feb 09))

Other Voices: Israeli-Arabs

The Other Israeli Film Festival will be held from November 6 - 13, 2008.  It is the brainchild of Carole Zabar and it focuses specifically on the experience of Israeli Arabs.  Ms. Zabar, a dynamic 66-year-old woman with flaming red hair,  said she started the festival because she believed that Israeli Arabs deserved to be better understood.

Those of you who live in or near Manhattan, may appreciate some of these films.  If you do attend any, please let us know.

Beyond Them and Us: Films About Israeli Arabs

Other Israel Film Festival Web Site