Medpoetry.com was started as a project in my residency training. As many in the hospital know, words are without a doubt the strongest form of medicine. Whether it is a casual “good morning” or a “I’ll be here for you,” words are without parallel when it comes to healing the mind and soul. Simply put, MedPoetry serves as a collection of the emotions encountered through the practice of medicine or dentistry. Collected here is the literation of life, death, healing, joy, pain, laughter, depair, and hope we tend to find in this profession. We also hope you find community in the words submitted. Whether you are a practicing doctor, trainee, or patient, we welcome you here. One way or the other, we are all one of the above.
Our lives, discoloured with our present woes,
May still grow white and shine with happier hours.
So the pure limped stream, when foul with stains
Of rushing torrents and descending rains,
Works itself clear, and as it runs refines,
till by degrees the floating mirror shines;
Reflects each flower that on the border grows,
And a new heaven in it’s fair bosom shows.
Joseph Addison