Corpus - Corpus

Curricular Conundrums: the place of Humanities in Medicine 20 years on

1 August 2016 1 Comment

Barbara Brookes and Charlotte Paul

‘The Faculty of Medicine is undertaking major course revision’. This statement is from a 1995 University of Otago memo. Part of this revision focus was a proposal that the Humanities Division provide a suite of Elective papers for third year medical students. There was already a self-directed option on offer, in which—in consultation with a willing staff member—students had 10 hours a week for five weeks to follow a particular interest. As classes had grown in size, this system had become unwieldy and it was suggested that a more systematic programme of Humanities Electives would broaden students’ appreciation of the art, as well as the science, of medicine.

How medicine killed my reading bug

1 August 2016 1 Comment

Richard German

From as early as I can remember, I loved reading. Many of my early memories are associated with books. I always had a predilection for non-fiction, and my fiction tastes ran primarily to science fiction. Through my early and mid-teenage years the love affair with books continued, despite the predations of School Cert, University Entrance and Bursary.

But then I achieved my teenage ambition of gaining entry to medical school…

Tour de face: making masks in a landscape of ruin

25 July 2016 1 Comment

Annette Rose

It is 22 February 2011 and my hometown of Christchurch has been unearthed by a series of devastating earthquakes. I have an idea for helping Cantabrian youngsters make sense of strange events: a ‘debrief and development’ mask-making project in schools.

Here is a hint at what the quake kids saw with their terror-blinded eyes, not only a tour de force but also a tour de face… [Read more…] about Tour de face: making masks in a landscape of ruin

Miraculous Maisie

25 July 2016 1 Comment

Dr Jill McIlraith

In the realm of angels and miracles, a schnoodle would seem an unlikely heroine.

But making grief bearable, helping a 68 year old lady fall in love again and bringing a family together is all in a day’s work for Maisie, a schnauzer-poodle bundle of cuddles and energy.

[Read more…] about Miraculous Maisie

Hope in a bottle: the allure (and business) of self-medication

25 July 2016 Leave a Comment

Dr Barbara Brookes

maltexo — New Zealand Railways. Publicity Branch [ca 1940]. Courtesy National Library of New Zealand.

There is an irresistible lure to self-medication as the lines of herbal preparations, oils and supplements in supermarkets and specialty shops suggest. For companies, ‘health’ products are clearly good business. People like to feel that they are, in some way, in control of their own health. Proprietary firms have long catered to this desire which avoids an expensive and time-consuming visit to the doctor. Dunedin was home to a staple of my childhood days: the syrupy and sweet ‘Maltexo’ which my mother thought was very good for her five children; we happily downed tablespoons of it daily in the 1960s. [Read more…]

The Case of the Missing Body

18 July 2016 Leave a Comment

Sue Wootton

The language of the body is amazing… I couldn’t hear it but the physiotherapist could.” Jenny Powell

Like the ‘disembodied lady’ described by Oliver Sacks, poet and teacher Jenny Powell has lived her life without a sense of body. Confused and frustrated by her inability to feel connected to her joints and her movements, she started to investigate, piecing together a comprehensive picture of her condition. The result is a fascinating and informative book: The Case of the Missing Body (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2016)