Interview Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 The Power of Our Actions: PSM Talks with Michele Harper by Tracy Granzyk ichele Harper’s breakout memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, was published in July of 2020. In it, she describes a life dedicated to healing and advocating for people in a US health system still searching for equity, and how her own process of healing has taught her to be a better doctor. Her surgically wrought prose ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Glenn, Grace, and God by Gwendolyn Lack race, count down from ten,” the doctor spoke softly. “This will be over soon.” Something stood in the shadows of my darkness—in the distance my name, a high-pitched repetition of Grace? Couldn’t possibly be? Is that you? The shadow of your jawline looks so…soft? The shadow stepped into the light, whispering, You’re in a coma—stupid. What? You heard me. The doc just put me—three…two…. See? Fuck ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Ride the Peter Pan by Allison Whittenberg here were times when it seemed like all the beauty was sucked out of my life. This was one of them. It was cold and damp, early spring, and I was Greyhounding from my old life to my new, from North to South. I was 24, master-degree’d, unwed, and pregnant. All around me, I saw failure. As each passenger climbed ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Sylmar by Nicholas Bridgman erry Toomey had terrible halitosis. Not everyday bad breath, not dragon breath often caused by garlic, not breath stinking from days of not brushing or flossing—but hard-core, undeniable, unbearable halitosis related to bad tooth problems. Which made it all the more meaningful that people liked to talk with him, braving the smell for the enjoyment of his pleasant qualities—great sense of humor, ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Fighting for Life by Samantha Guzman he cold metal chair on the back of my thighs keeps me distracted from the growing pain in my stomach. I tilt my head back, take small, deep breaths, and rub my swollen hands over the top of my belly in firm circles, just how Simone likes, keeping us both calm. In the almost two hours I’ve been sitting in ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 The Results by Rue Baldry lot of fuss being made about a little cough. Just a summer cold; that’s all. Hanging on through autumn, it is, but nowt to it. After everything he’s survived, it’d be mad if it’s this that sees him off. Albert lights up a cigarette. He should have time to finish it before Edgar gets home and starts nagging him about it. ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Someone Should Tell Him by Gordon Sun he 4-North nursing station was deserted, an eerie silence permeating the ward. Slouching in a battered rolling chair, I dialed intensive care. I drummed my fingers on the table as the computer strained to load the hospital’s outdated medical record system. The line connected after three rings. “Dr. Bhargava, ICU,” a man said in a hurry. “Dan Briggs, surgery resident, returning ...
Read MoreInterview Issue #5: Heroes July 28th, 2020 July 28th, 2020 Strange Creatures: PSM Talks with Vikram Paralkar by A. M. Larks o call Vikram Paralkar an author and a researcher-doctor is correct but inaccurate. It is true that he is all those things, but it is imprecise to treat them as separate identities. Each feeds the other in such a unified way that they are inseparable. This is just as true in Paralkar’s second book, Night Theater, as ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #5: Heroes July 28th, 2020 July 28th, 2020 Neighborhood Funerals by Jacqueline Gualtieri o one else is taking them, so he does. Being around dead bodies isn’t new to him. His father owned this funeral home. And his father before him. Death is a family business. The community around him is dying. The community: his friends that trusted his grandfather, his father, and him to treat their dead loved ones with love and respect. Death is a ...
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