Literature

Literary works, book reviews, and literature related to medicine and healthcare

“A Young Doctor’s Notebook” by Mikhail Bulgakov

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Early 20th-century doctor in a white coat examines a seated woman wrapped in a blanket inside a modest rural clinic, with wooden furniture, medicine bottles, an oil lamp, and snow-covered windows.

“A Young Doctor’s Notebook” by Mikhail Bulgakov is a goldmine of information for those interested in the history of medicine. Mikhail Bulgakov, a Russian doctor and writer, lived from 1891 to 1940. Born into a family of intellectuals, he studied medicine in Kiev, graduating in 1916. He then worked in various rural villages, with his … Read more

Docteur Cottard in Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu”

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Vintage-style illustration of a doctor in a white coat examining a red-haired child with a stethoscope in an early 20th-century hospital ward, with an iron bed, anatomical charts, bottles, and worn walls in the background.

“On avait fait venir le docteur Cottard qui, après m’avoir ausculté, m’avait déclaré sujet à des crises nerveuses et m’avait prescrit un peu de lait chaud avant de me coucher.” “They had called Dr. Cottard, who, after examining me, declared me subject to nervous attacks and prescribed a little warm milk before bed.” In Proust’s … Read more