Auscultation

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Description: 

An immersive reading of One Lousy Night by Marianne Gambaro with reflection on caregivers, fever dreams, delirium and critical illness. 

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

Poem: https://pulsevoices.org/poems/one-lousy-night/

References:

Gambaro, Marianne. “One Lousy Night.” Pulse Voices, https://pulsevoices.org/poems/one-lousy-night/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

Marrianne Gambaro: https://margampoetry.wordpress.com/

Kelsay Press: https://kelsaybooks.com/ 

Karnatovskaia LV, Schultz JM, Niven AS, Steele AJ, Baker BA, Philbrick KL, Del Valle KT, Johnson KR, Gajic O, Varga K. System of Psychological Support Based on Positive Suggestions to the Critically Ill Using ICU Doulas. Crit Care Explor. 2021 Apr 26;3(4):e0403. 

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An immersive reading of A Cup of Chai by Grace Ro with reflection on food, artificial nutrition, voice, and proxy decision makers. 

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

Poem: https://ars-medica.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2705/546 

References:

Ro, G. (2026). A Cup of Chai. Ars Medica, 20(1), 2 pp. Retrieved from https://ars-medica.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2705

Doximity profile: https://www.doximity.com/profiles/41f2b871-6817-4978-be66-72fe5825ccb4/view

Linkedin profile: www.linkedin.com/in/gracer128 

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Description: 

An immersive reading of Morning Tea by Michael L. Wynn with reflection on atrial fibrillation, strokes, space and time.

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work: 

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000214487 

References:

Wynn ML. Morning Tea. Neurology. 2025 Dec 23;105(12):e214487. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000214487. Epub 2025 Nov 20. PMID: 41264895.

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Description: 

An immersive reading of Echo by Wendy Wisner with reflection on hearts, love, and architecture. 

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

References:

Wisner W. Echo. JAMA. 2026;335(17):1538. doi:10.1001/jama.2026.1502 

Website: https://www.wendywisner.com/

Book: https://www.amazon.com/New-Life-Poems-Wendy-Wisner/dp/1960329553

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Description: 

An immersive reading of Bargaining by Jacob M. Appel with reflection on deals, education, intellectual pursuits and pragmatic activities.

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

https://www.alphaomegaalpha.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/pp15_APPLE_PHAROS_WINT26.pdf  

 Appel, Jacob M. Bargaining. The Pharos. Winter 2026. 

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Description: 

An immersive reading of The Republic of Rumor by David A. Lee with reflection on trust, the carnivalesque, social media, digital platforms, and misinformation.  

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

Poem: https://www.alphaomegaalpha.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/pp50_51_LEE_PHAROS_WINT26.pdf 

Lee, David A. The Republic of Rumor. The Pharos. Winter 2026.

References: 

Tandar C, Lin J, Stanford F. Combating medical misinformation and rebuilding trust in the USA. The Lancet Digital Health, 2024; 6, e773-e774

Alsan M, Cutler DM. Prescription for Division—Healing the Growing Gap in Physician Trust. JAMA Health Forum. 2025;6(12):e256765. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.6765

Saad  L . Americans' ratings of US professions stay historically low. Published January 13, 2025. Accessed April 12, 2026. https://news.gallup.com/poll/655106/americans-ratings-professions-stay-historically-low.aspx

Robert J. Blendon, John M. Benson; Trust in Medicine, the Health System & Public Health. Daedalus 2022; 151 (4): 67–82. 

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Description: 

An immersive reading of Sommelier by by Suraj Bala with reflection on reflection, death, resurrection, candles and em dashes. 

Work:

Poem: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/article-abstract/2839156

Bala S. Sommelier. JAMA Oncol. 2025;11(11):1399. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.2896

References: 

Meditation for the Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Rees K, Takeda A, Court R, et al. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2024;2:CD013358. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013358.pub2.

Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Goyal M, Singh S, Sibinga EM, et al. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2014;174(3):357-68. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018.

Inner Engineering Practices and Advanced 4-Day Isha Yoga Retreat Are Associated With Cannabimimetic Effects With Increased Endocannabinoids and Short-Term and Sustained Improvement in Mental Health: A Prospective Observational Study of Meditators. Sadhasivam S, Alankar S, Maturi R, et al. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM. 2020;2020:8438272. doi:10.1155/2020/8438272.

Systematic Review for the Medical Applications of Meditation in Randomized Controlled Trials. Kim DY, Hong SH, Jang SH, et al. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(3):1244. doi:10.3390/ijerph19031244.

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Description: 

An immersive reading of Offerings From My Patients and Their Families by Hanna M. Saltzman with reflection on offerings, gifts, complaints, and boundary crossings.

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2839104 

References:

Saltzman HM. Offerings From My Patients and Their Families. JAMA. 2025;334(15):1399. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.12143

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2839104 

Hanna Saltzman: www.hannasaltzman.com 

Hyde, Lewis. The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property. 25th anniversary ed., Vintage Books, 2007.

Campo R. Making Lists in Medicine and Poetry. JAMA. 2025;334(15):1399. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.12103

https://www.etymonline.com/word/offering 

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Description: 

An immersive reading of If We Must Die by Claude McKay with reflection on military metaphors in healthcare and being a fighter.

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

If We Must Die
by Claude McKay

If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

References:

Metaphor, Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/dictionary/metaphor_n?tl=true 

Metaphor, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/metaphor 

Aristotle. The Poetics, trans Ingram Bywater. Chapter 21, 1457b1-30 

Kim S, Mills H, Brender T, McGowan S, Widera E, Chapman AC, Harrison KL, Lee S, Smith AK, Bamman D, Gologorskaya O, Cobert J. "My Mom Is a Fighter": A Qualitative Analysis of the Use of Combat Metaphors in ICU Clinician Notes. Chest. 2024 Nov;166(5):1162-1172. 

Tate T. Your Father's a Fighter; Your Daughter's a Vegetable: A Critical Analysis of the Use of Metaphor in Clinical Practice. Hastings Cent Rep. 2020 Sep;50(5):20-29.

Thibodeau PH, Hendricks RK, Boroditsky L. How Linguistic Metaphor Scaffolds Reasoning. Trends Cogn Sci. 2017 Nov;21(11):852-863.

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Description: 

An immersive reading of With Child by Genevieve Taggard with reflection on pregnancy, maternal mortality, pace, and isolation. 

Website:

https://anauscultation.wordpress.com

Work:

With Child
by Genevieve Taggard 

Now I am slow and placid, fond of sun,
Like a sleek beast, or a worn one:
No slim and languid girl—not glad
With the windy trip I once had,
But velvet-footed, musing of my own,
Torpid, mellow, stupid as a stone.

You cleft me with your beauty’s pulse, and now
Your pulse has taken body. Care not how
The old grace goes, how heavy I am grown,
Big with this loneliness, how you alone
Ponder our love. Touch my feet and feel
How earth tingles, teeming at my heel!
Earth’s urge, not mine,—my little death, not hers;
And the pure beauty yearns and stirs.

It does not heed our ecstacies, it turns
With secrets of its own, its own concerns,
Toward a windy world of its own, toward stark
And solitary places. In the dark,
Defiant even now, it tugs and moans
To be untangled from these mother’s bones.

References:

Goldenberg RL, McClure EM. Maternal mortality. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2011 Oct;205(4):293-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2011.07.045. Epub 2011 Aug 4. PMID: 22083050; PMCID: PMC3893928.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality 

Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2023. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2025. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc/174577.

Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, Forciea MA; Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians; Denberg TD, Barry MJ, Boyd C, Chow RD, Fitterman N, Harris RP, Humphrey LL, Vijan S. Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017 Apr 4;166(7):514-530. doi: 10.7326/M16-2367. Epub 2017 Feb 14. PMID: 28192789.

Moyer CA, Rounds J, Hannum JW. A meta-analysis of massage therapy research. Psychol Bull. 2004 Jan;130(1):3-18. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.1.3. PMID: 14717648.