Poetry, Thy Name is Physician
I found this pretty amazing. There's a poet lurking in almost every physician. According to newswise.com, future physician Paul Rocco Allegra had this to say after encountering death in the anatomy lab, where he and his classmates dissected cadavers. Metal gurney against preserved flesh, maybe this isn’t the first time we’ve met … And this, in imagining fleeting moments when, in life, the person whose corpse lies before him, might have crossed paths with him. I hesitate to look at your face, because maybe, just maybe, you’ve looked at mine. The Web site quotes Allegra, who says, “You see painted fingernails, or freckles or hair,” haunting signs that this preserved mass of organic material was once a person – a human being like him. “You need to stop and reflect and analyze, and poetry does that.” Writes another student, My pronunciations are shameful. Erythematous. Blah. My cheeks burn. Will patients call me doctor if ...