St. Bartholomew’s Hospital By John Graham-Pole, MBBS, MD I wrap my skimpy white coat about me, shivering under the January snowfall as I cross Barts Square heading for the Med-Surg block. Whose idea was it for doctors to don white coats in January, anyway? Is it to give us an air of spotless sterility? Hardly […]
By Dorothy Lander In recent years, May Day, traditionally a celebration of Flora (the Roman Goddess of Spring and Flowers), has been overshadowed as a holiday to commemorate the historic struggles and gains made by workers and the labour movement. International Workers’ Day is observed on May 1 in many countries and as Labour Day […]
by John Graham-Pole Wellcome Collection Gallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0028932.html It’s the very first day of January 1967. My first internal medicine internship begins this frosty Monday morning under the shades of St. Paul’s Cathedral in the city of London. Right now it’s 7:46 AM and I’m making my familiar way from the medical college across West Smithfield […]
www.tryhealingarts.ca H-ealing A-rts R-econciling P-eoples March 8, 2026 Happy International Women’s Day, Honourable Michelle Thompson & Honourable Tim Houston: I write on behalf of HARP The People’s Press (www.tryhealingarts.ca), Nova Scotia’s independent multi-media publishing house and shareholder-owned Community Interest Company, dedicated to the healing arts for health equity. After the huge rallies across Nova Scotia […]
by Maurice Switzer* In grade school I recall having to memorize poems by Duncan Campbell Scott, oblivious to the fact that the author was responsible for devising a network of residential schools that caused irrevocable damage to the lives of thousands of Indigenous kids like me. We were assigned to read the rhymes of venerated […]
by John Graham-Pole I’ve been reflecting on words I rarely heard during my fifty-plus years of medical practice. Words I was especially drawn to in later years, when making rounds, when writing chart notes, especially when listening and responding to my patients and their families. These are some of the words I’m thinking of: purpose, […]
By John Graham-Pole For more than three decades, the University of Florida’s Arts in Medicine program (AIM: artsinmedicine.ufhealth.org) has brought visual, literary, and performance artists into the hospital’s wards and clinics. Its mission has been simply to enrich the experience of patients and caregivers through countless forms of creative expression. When my nurse colleague […]
Dorothy Lander, co-founder of HARP Publishing: The People’s Press, was devastated to learn of the death of her long-time friend, Jeannie Mackay, on August 23, 2025. As a deeply passionate thespian and humanitarian her entire life, Jeannie Mackay personified the mission of HARP, dedicating her enormous talents and sharp wit to support the healing arts […]
Join us on August 26 for a festive book launch in Antigonish, NS, as we celebrate the power of creativity with poet, dancer, and educator Celeste Nazeli Snowber. Antigonish is about to welcome acclaimed poet, dancer, and educator Celeste Nazeli Snowber to the Highland Heart of Nova Scotia for a celebration, the launch of her […]
Art is an essential nutrient for human culture. Every society has used art to create a social glue, to express its faith and ideas, and to interpret the world.
