Type of Submission: Health Story

René (Video Oficial)

This 7-minute music video tells Rene's (Residente) story of growing up "lower middle class" but secure in Puerto Rico. Describes happiness, sadness and the fragility of being a famous rapper and how he uses alcohol to deal with powerful feelings: loneliness, fear, grief - but music and baseball are more stable healing forces. The video has accurate subtitles in both Spanish and English and moves quite slowly (and can be slowed even further). Many scenes and details of Puerto Rican culture, excellent illustration of dialect features. Could be used to discuss alcoholism, addiction, grief in an upper intermediate or higher Spanish course.

Wake Me up When September Ends

The hit single "Wake Me up When September Ends" was written by Billie Joe Armstrong about his father who died from esophageal cancer when Armstrong was 10 years old. This popular song illustrates a health storyline that is likely overlooked by many casual listeners. Listening to the song, paying close attention to the words, could open discussion of grief and loss.

BDD, Fighting the Voice of Imposter Syndrome, and an Act of Power

This 47 minute podcast discusses how three generations of Koreans have experienced mental illness. Joanne details her elders' PTSD and depression, then moves into her own story. Initially, she ignores the little voice in her head, comparing her struggles with her grandparents'. Later, on her honeymoon, she realizes that she is losing a fight with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Joanne describes an up and down journey toward body acceptance. As media become saturated with unrealistic beauty standards, this podcast would fit well in an undergraduate class to discuss how students face body image issues.

Call me Francisca

Francisca had always had difficulty getting pregnant. That is why she was exhilarated when she found out the news that she was having a baby. However, after some tests, Francisca was informed that she was HIV positive. Her doctors gave her antivirals and frequent checkups to keep her viral load low, but they did not inform her about much else. She felt guilt-ridden. When the time came for her birth, she had a C-section performed by a different doctor. After her son was born, a nurse informed her that her sterilization went well. Francisca later sued the hospital for a violation of rights. This narrative is available in a Spanish transcription and as an English translation. It originates from Chile in 2002. As a patient, Francisca's trust and rights were violated. Accessible to upper intermediate Spanish readers; transcription helps with audio. Useful for discussion of reproductive rights, women's health.

Did a famous doctor’s Covid shot make his cancer worse?

Beyond - and more important than - the medical details, this article raises questions about the power of individual stories, in this instance case studies, of what might be fluke happenings or might be patterns of rare but significant side effects of a vaccine. Deep reflection on what happened when the teller was not just a patient but a scientist, one of several authors on a peer-reviewed article reporting findings in a journal, and how his trajectory would have been lost in a randomized clinical trial but might be quite significant if put together with two or three others with similar progressions. Also significant that his radiologist and co-author was his brother; not everyone has such a keen listener to their health narrative, nor would most people be able to tell them in such detailed and credible ways. Useful for discussions of scientific knowing vs storytelling in e.g. a rhetoric or composition class; science writing (author reflects at the end on her hesitation about writing the story at all, given potential misuses and misstatements of the facts she presents); power of stories; doctors as patients.

Promises Like Dolls

"Promises Like Dolls" is a very short story (123 words) about the experience of multiple miscarriages. The story refers to various objects (dolls, books, flowers, t-shirts, stuffed animals) as a way of reflecting on expectations of motherhood (her own and those of others and of society) and on the grief of miscarriage. It also represents the limits of social support for miscarriage. The story is short enough to be read together in class, both as a reflection on how the experience of medical events is shaped by cultural norms and social experiences and as a prompt for discussing how the author utilizes specific imagery and description to convey (and imply) complex emotions in a very short work.

Fae Kayarian: Physician in Training, Poet in Progress

Fae Kayarian is a poet and medical student who began as a scribe at Harvard Medical School. She has shared her experiences through poetry in the form of an autobiography titled "Journals of a Visitor" and several stand-alone poems. Her website contains eight poems ranging in topics in medicine from her point of view as a bystander and now a student. Generally useful for close reading of poetry. Two poems - "The Color Blue" and "It's been six years" could interest families of patients experiencing loss and dementia. Others would be beneficial for teaching physicians and other health professionals in mentor positions. Her poetry would serve as a reminder of what it's like to be a student and the impact that medical educators have on the future of medicine as mentors.

My body is a cage of my own making

An accessible, 7-8 page excerpt from her book, Hunger: A Memoir Of (My) Body. Roxane Gay writes about her struggle with her weight and body image. When people commented on her body, refused to sit next to her on planes, or took food out of her grocery cart, Gay struggled to accept, and even love, her body. When she broke her ankle and needed emergency surgery she began to take a healthier approach to living in a larger sized body. Useful for classes and community groups to talk about fat-shaming.

¡Por favor, déjame lavar y aspirar más!

Sam narrates the impact of his pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) through his chores around the house. After a discussion with his wife, Anna, about how to fairly split up these duties while his vision progressively worsens, Sam takes up cooking. Chores used to be tedious, but now he admits he finds peace in being able to perform actions like vacuuming and making the bed. Most importantly, he discovers that he and Anna share these out of the love they have for each other. Pseudoxanthoma elasticum is a hereditary disease that calcifies elastic fibers, mainly connective tissue. A case study about this disease could be supplemented with this article in medical school. Focus on relational issues would appeal to an undergraduate class. 20 minute read for advanced Spanish learners.

240 Birds

Juan Pablo Culasso was born blind, but until the age of 5 or 6 this had little effect on him because his family encouraged him to explore and be as active as any other child. Once he started school, an educational system that was unprepared to incorporate him into learning environments built around sighted children created significant barriers to receiving any education at all. His family took over his education and he learned rapidly, including mastering the piano and guitar. One day Pablo informed his father that his guitar is out of tune, off by a hertz or two. This is how they learned he had perfect pitch. He began listening to birds and memorizing each call, eventually being able to identify 240 bird calls. He won a national competition for "The smartest person in Chile" and now works in an ornithology lab in Canada. This podcast can work for upper intermediate learners of Spanish, or higher. The speaker uses a dialect from Uruguay. It could spark discussion on what constitutes a "disability" and how rare talents - like perfect pitch - can be obscured behind that label. Spanish transcript and English translation of the transcript are available.