Poem

Link to the published case

Who:
My friend Sabrina, a resident physician at Boston Children's Hospital, was finishing edits on a medical report about an apparent case of hematemesis (vomiting of blood). As she was preparing to submit the piece for publication, she asked me to give it a quick read-through.

What:
Sabrina’s report kicked off with a standalone rhyming line. Before I knew it, 20 minutes had flown by and I’d rewritten the entire essay in the style of a children’s poem. When asked whether I had any notes, I sheepishly admitted I’d gotten rather distracted, and showed Sabrina the poem.

Wow:
To my surprise and delight, Sabrina and her advisors decided to submit the poem as part of the report. Just over a year later, it appeared in The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition with the following line: “For a unique illustration of this case, please see accompanying poem.” I haven’t reviewed the record books, but I have a hunch it’s the first time JPGN has ever published a medical poem.