Pulse--voices from the heart of medicine
@pulsevoices.org
📤 123
📥 20
📝 136
Telling the personal story of health care.
https://pulsevoices.org
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Did you know you could receive Pulse stories, artwork, and poems straight to your inbox every week just by subscribing with your email? And it's free! Visit
pulsevoices.org/subscribe/
#medicalhumanities
#writing
#narrativemedicine
#healthcare
#physicians
#MedSky
#medicine
5 months ago
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"After the Fall: What Happened Next" by Roberta Peets. An honest portrayal of being scared and feeling left in the dark in the emergency room.
pulsevoices.org/stories/afte...
#puksevoices
#ER
#hospital
#patient
#narrativemedicine
#medsky
#medicalhumanities
#experience
#healthcare
#medicine
#scared
about 2 hours ago
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In honor of our November
#MoreVoices
theme on Chronic Pain, we're highlighting the story "A Cruel Companion" by Ronna Edelstein. Her piece touches on how difficulties in life can be exacerbated by chronic pain. ❤️🏥
pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-v...
#stories
#narrativemedicine
#hospital
#pulsevoices
2 days ago
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"The Voiceless" by Ritamarie Moscola.
pulsevoices.org/visuals/the-..
. About the Artwork: “This is one of a series of collage portraits created in response to my experience of sitting with residents in nursing facilities.”
#healing
#art
#narrativemedicine
#nursing
#hospital
#patient
#pulsevoices
6 days ago
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“Pumpkin Brains” by Jessica Faraci. 🎃
pulsevoices.org/visuals/pump...
. Subscribe to Pulse for more stories, artwork, and poems straight to your inbox every week! ✍️
#stories
#halloween
#spooky
#healing
#writers
#narrativemedicine
#physician
#science
#inspiration
#medicalstudent
#pulsevoices
10 days ago
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"Breath of Life" by Anjali Degala About the artwork: "This artwork portrays lungs intertwined with blooming flowers, symbolizing resilience, growth, and renewal."
pulsevoices.org/visuals/brea...
#art
#anatomy
#medicalhumanities
#medsky
#healthcare
#pulsevoices
#empower
#growth
14 days ago
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NINE DAYS TO SUBMIT HAIKU! We are accepting 2025
#haiku
submissions until October 31st. The next opportunity would be October 2026. Please see here for complete instructions on how to submit haiku:
pulsevoices.org/submit/
#poetry
#writing
#poem
#october
#writers
#medicalhumanities
#Pulsevoices
19 days ago
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Below is an excerpt from "Harvest" by Allison C. Harrison. It's a powerful and gripping piece on patient autonomy, especially when it is disregarded at a young age. Read the full
#poem
:
pulsevoices.org/poems/harvest/
#autonomy
#medsky
#patient
#medicine
#stemcell
#writing
#poetry
#pulsevoices
20 days ago
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Liminal Symphony: Where Hearts Whisper in Stillness" by Jonatan Amaya.
pulsevoices.org/visuals/limi...
“In the quiet embrace of a hug, two souls unite, crafting a connection that transcends words.”
23 days ago
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A chilling excerpt from "Alive" by Jan Haag, a poem in which she recounts her husband's aortic valve replacement surgery.
pulsevoices.org/poems/alive/
#surgery
#postsurgery
#medicine
#healthcare
#narrativemedicine
#medicalhumanities
#poem
#poetry
#writing
#writers
#pulsevoices
#medsky
#hospital
27 days ago
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We are happy to announce that Pulse is now accepting haiku submissions! The deadline to submit is October 31st. View our submission guidelines on our website at:
pulsevoices.org/submit/
Interested in submitting a haiku? Use our submission form at:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
30 days ago
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'late autumn' by Barbara Kauffmann
pulsevoices.org/haiku/late-a...
#haiku
#fall
#medsky
#medicalhumanities
#pulsevoices
#narrativemedicine
#health
#poem
#writing
#art
#bluesky
about 1 month ago
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"Psammoma Bodies with Whorls" by Eva Catenaccio "What is ‘interesting’ academically can cause us to overlook the patient’s experience of illness. While I can see a certain beauty in the tumor cells swirling on the slide, the patient may view the same slide very differently."
about 1 month ago
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This month’s More Voices theme is Disability. What’s your experience of having a disability, of providing care for someone with a disability, or of having a family member with a disability? Share your story here:
pulsevoices.org/more-voices-...
Stories should be 40-400 words.
#writingprompt
about 1 month ago
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LAST CALL FOR POETRY SUBMISSIONS!!!
#poetry
#writers
#writing
#poem
#medicalhumanities
#narrativemedicine
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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With September concluding, we are sharing one of this month's More Voices stories on the
#examroom
. "Humor 101" by Patti Cassidy brings in the perspective of standardized patients and insight into the importance of humor in the patient-provider bond.
pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-v...
about 1 month ago
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Saleh Jad shares his story, “Dialyzing in a War Zone,” in the most recent issue of Pulse. His piece touches on work in healthcare in Palestine and the struggle to communicate with patients about their experiences effectively…
pulsevoices.org/stories/dial...
about 1 month ago
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"Three Needles" by Jane Desmond. "This poem details the procedure of providing a ‘good death’ from the perspective of the human caring for her non-human companion." Read the full poem:
pulsevoices.org/poems/three-...
#pet
#vet
#animal
#rabbit
#PulseVoices
#medicalhumanities
#death
#dying
#poem
about 2 months ago
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'Children's Memorial' by Susan Cunningham “This is a watercolor painting of the Edgartown Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard. Every September there is a memorial service for lost children, and our son has a memorial stone at the base of the lighthouse."
pulsevoices.org/visuals/chil...
#art
#healing
about 2 months ago
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In "Thank You, Betty", Patty I. Sánchez Montejo must deliver the dreaded news of recurrence. Read here:
pulsevoices.org/stories/than...
about 2 months ago
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"hospice window" by Kala Ramesh.
pulsevoices.org/haiku/hospic...
To read more of our published haiku, visit our website at:
pulsevoices.org/haiku/
#haiku
#poem
#Medsky
#medicine
#medicalhumanities
#healthcare
#hospice
#patient
about 2 months ago
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Pulse will be accepting poetry submissions this month from September 1st to September 30th! Use the submission form to submit your poetry:
pulsevoices.org/poem-submiss...
Additionally, please visit our website for submission guidelines:
pulsevoices.org/submit/
#poem
#poetry
#writing
#pulsevoices
2 months ago
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Through caring for one patient, Dua Hassan’s "Choosing to Believe" is a story of reexamining faith as a choice in adulthood when faced with the unexplainable.
pulsevoices.org/stories/choo...
#medicalhumanities
#narrativemedicine
#medicine
#hope
#healthcare
#care
#religion
#faith
#Pulsevoices
2 months ago
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"The Lingering Gaze" by Simran Anand About the Art: "This piece captures what stays with you long after the operating room—the stares, the silence, the shame imposed by others...This piece is about visibility, vulnerability, and finding strength not in spite of being different but because of it."
2 months ago
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“What Remains” by Grace Lin and Amanda Tam reflects on the endurance of friendship in the face of time and a terminal illness diagnosis. Read here:
pulsevoices.org/stories/what...
#ALS
#friendship
#narrativemedicine
#medicalhumanities
#medicine
#diagnosis
#terminalillness
#sisterhood
#writing
2 months ago
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"The Healer" by Lori-Anne Noyahr
pulsevoices.org/poems/the-he...
About the Poem: "This is a poem about motherhood in medicine, the balance between caring for others and one's personal relationships, and the tension between the sterile setting of the hospital and the natural world."
2 months ago
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“Growing a Spine” by Sabina Mehdi About the artwork: “Where would the soft curve of the spine be without the protruding spinous and transverse processes of its vertebrae?”
#photography
#anatomy
#MedSky
#medicalhumanities
#pulsevoices
#medicine
#art
#health
#visual
#photo
#nature
#plants
3 months ago
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"too much sun" by LeRoy Gorman
pulsevoices.org/haiku/too-mu...
#haiku
#poetry
#medicalhumanities
#MedSky
#Pulsevoices
#narrativemedicine
#cancer
#oncology
#healthcare
#medicine
#patient
#writing
#writers
#poet
#health
#diagnosis
3 months ago
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A firsthand account of delivering medical care while bombs fall on Gaza, as told by Sami Mahmoud Margharie, a young physician now seeing patients in a Gaza refugee camp.
pulsevoices.org/stories/repo...
#Gaza
#MedSky
#narrativemedicine
#medicalhumanities
#emergencymedicine
#war
#healthcare
3 months ago
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"Please Stand Clear" by Sophie Collins. About the poem: “The morning after my first resuscitation, I caught a summer train full of singing children. The contrast between the horrors of night shift and the ordinary moments of sunny-day joy is always a tricky one.”
pulsevoices.org/poems/please...
3 months ago
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reposted by
Pulse--voices from the heart of medicine
Jennifer Caputo-Seidler, MD
3 months ago
Thank you
@pulsevoices.org
for sharing my story in this month’s More Voices
#medhum
pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-v...
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August's More Voices theme: Awaiting a
#Diagnosis
. What’s been your experience of awaiting a significant piece of health news–as a patient, a health professional, a caregiver or a student? Below: "It's Probably Nothing" by Beatriz Sousa on awaiting a diagnosis for Raynaud’s phenomenon.
3 months ago
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"Escape" by Ash Sangoram "My cryptoglyphs are divined from a Source undetermined yet as the Vedas flow, it is clear that these verses and images emerge from an equivalent channel."
#art
#poetry
#healing
#medicalhumanities
#narrativemedicine
#MedSky
#health
#Pulsevoices
#creative
3 months ago
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"a quick glance" by Jimmy Pappas.
pulsevoices.org/haiku/a-quic...
Follow for more artwork, haiku, poems, and stories created by healthcare professionals, patients, students, and caregivers🩺.
#haiku
#poem
#MedSky
#medicalhumanities
#writing
#PulseVoices
3 months ago
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In "Medicine Without A Bottle," Chris A. Smith speaks on the power of compassion in providing care, particularly the compassion inherent in nursing.
pulsevoices.org/stories/medi...
#medicalhumanities
#medicine
#MedSky
#Pulsevoices
#storytelling
#writers
#compassion
#BlueSky
#reflection
#personal
3 months ago
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Listen to a clip of one of our newest
#podcast
episodes! This episode features "Checking Our Assumptions" by Fidelindo Lim, a piece that emphasizes the importance of addressing personal bias in healthcare. Spotify:
open.spotify.com/episode/4ijJ...
Apple Music:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
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4 months ago
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"Marcia Must Exist" is an intriguing reflection on cancer remission. Find out who the funny (but not too funny), and the smart (but not too smart) Marcia is:
pulsevoices.org/stories/marc...
#medicalhumanities
#cancer
#remission
#pulsevoices
#love
#narrativemedicine
#ovariancancer
#patient
#MedSky
4 months ago
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"Threading the Needle" by Lisa S. Gussak
pulsevoices.org/visuals/thre...
Author's statement: "Given the increased presence of politics in medicine and the exam room, I frequently feel I am carefully threading the needle when choosing my words with patients."
#MedicalHumanities
#patientcare
#MedSky
4 months ago
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In treacherous waters, a family flees the chaos in their home country to seek refuge in another land. Read "Red Ship" by Livja Koka:
pulsevoices.org/new-voices/r...
#refugee
#migration
#journey
#war
#personalstories
#writing
#nonfictionwriting
#medicalhumanities
#narrativemedicine
#PulseVoices
4 months ago
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"First Cries" by Nitu Yumnam Kolkata, India
pulsevoices.org/haiku/first-...
#haiku
#poem
#birth
#children
#summer
#pediatrics
#medicalhumanities
#narrativemedicine
#writing
#writers
#poets
#MedSky
4 months ago
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It's National Rock 'n' Roll Day! Here's a story about a patient who reminds Lisa Gong of a song by the rock band Paramore.
pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-v...
#medsky
#medicalhumanities
#rock
#music
#patient
#health
#nonbinary
#identity
#song
#story
#writer
#rocknroll
#narrativemedicine
4 months ago
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“Fragments” by Barbara Kaufmann reflects on retirement after 50 years in nursing. “As I navigate the third half of life, I realize the need to integrate all that has gone before. This is the work of old age–pulling all the fragments of a life together.”
pulsevoices.org/visuals/frag...
4 months ago
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Poem of the day: "We Are Here" by Deb O'Rourke! Author's statement: "This is centered on my family’s experience as we supported our parents during their exit from this world. From disparate lives and cities, we gathered to care for our mother and treasured our unity and moment of partnership."
4 months ago
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"Recovering From Moral Injury" by Kim Bui is a gripping journey on physician burnout and finding the right fit to fuel your passion.
pulsevoices.org/stories/reco...
#MedSky
#medicalhumanities
#burnout
#experience
#healthcare
#primarycare
#patients
#medicine
#inspiration
#journey
#story
#writers
5 months ago
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reposted by
Pulse--voices from the heart of medicine
Jude Jones (they/them)
5 months ago
Thank you
@pulsevoices.org
for publishing my piece “First time for everything” on the theme “Hospitalized”
pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-v...
Trigger warning: suicidal ideation
#amwriting
#writersky
#mentalillness
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First Time for Everything - Pulse
It was Friday around 8 p.m., and my husband had the worst headache of his life. Worst headache of your life means you go to the ED, I informed him snappily, all the while mulling over my suicide plan....
https://pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-voices/2025/hospitalized/first-time-for-everything/
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"The piece features a person struggling with losing a loved one while also recognizing the peace that comes with the ending of debilitating disease." 'Unfetter' by Claudia Aghaie-Butler
pulsevoices.org/visuals/unfe...
#art
#palliativecare
#medicine
#medicalhumanities
#MedSky
#embroidery
#peace
5 months ago
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Did you know you could receive Pulse stories, artwork, and poems straight to your inbox every week just by subscribing with your email? And it's free! Visit
pulsevoices.org/subscribe/
#medicalhumanities
#writing
#narrativemedicine
#healthcare
#physicians
#MedSky
#medicine
5 months ago
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June's More Voices theme is: Hospitalized. Stories can be submitted at
pulsevoices.org/more-voices-...
. Below is a story on being
#Hospitalized
-- "In and out of the Theater" by Anthony Papagiannis. A doctor has surgery and finds himself in the shoes of his patients.
pulsevoices.org/pulse-more-v...
5 months ago
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reposted by
Pulse--voices from the heart of medicine
Check out "When Dads Fail" -- a compelling narrative of fatherhood among father, son, and grandson, as well as on growing up. This is the perfect read to get in the spirit of Father's Day this weekend.
pulsevoices.org/stories/when...
#FathersDay
#MedSky
#medicalhumanities
#fatherhood
#family
#love
5 months ago
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"euphoric boy" by Taylor Kovach.
#pride
#pridemonth
#haiku
#poetry
#writing
#MedSky
#medicalhumanities
#LGBTQ+
#poem
#writers
#medicine
5 months ago
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Check out "When Dads Fail" -- a compelling narrative of fatherhood among father, son, and grandson, as well as on growing up. This is the perfect read to get in the spirit of Father's Day this weekend.
pulsevoices.org/stories/when...
#FathersDay
#MedSky
#medicalhumanities
#fatherhood
#family
#love
5 months ago
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