Category Archives: History of Medicine

Is sex ed still taught like this?

Posted on March 31, 2016 by the friendly intern

Because Disney doesn’t own enough of my childhood already, I sometimes go looking for some of their less well-known videos. Given that we’re learning about the menstrual cycle now, I thought this 1949 educational video was timely. It’s interesting to contrast how … Continue reading →

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The stories behind chemotherapy development

Posted on February 24, 2016 by the friendly intern

It’s easy to see chemotherapeutic agents, which look like clear or milky liquids that come in bags or brilliantly colored vials, as “unnatural.” But a number of chemo drugs are natural in origin: derived from plants, albeit poisonous ones. Periwinkle provides … Continue reading →

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Creepy crawlies in medicine

Posted on December 28, 2015 by the friendly intern

I love, love, love, re-purposing. Turning old clothes into pillows, weeds into salads, factories into apartment complexes. So imagine my delight when I saw the description for this Nature episode on how researchers are experimenting with some of the world’s deadliest toxins … Continue reading →

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How race has been codified in research literature: the cases of eGFR and spirometry

Posted on August 18, 2015 by the friendly intern

Today, I wanted to explore how race is used as a metric of performance in medical science. I noticed this from reading patients’ estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs), which are calculated differently for African-American patients. This led me to research … Continue reading →

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