Tagged: medical humanities

Under the Gun with Stu Durando

Gun violence has become a national epidemic. It has indelibly affected our community and is, as Stu Durando argues in Under the Gun, a matter of public health. Here’s a brief blurb for the book:

“In 2007, Dr. Martin Keller cut into a dying teenager’s chest in the emergency room to give him a chance at life and changed the treatment of gun injuries at St. Louis Children’s Hospital dramatically. Keller arrived as director of trauma when the hospital was beginning to see more gunshot wounds than any children’s hospital in the country. Amid the chaos, he and other caregivers were tasked with making improvements to create a smoother running trauma operation. Under the Gun looks inside the emergency and operating rooms as physicians, nurses and surgeons tackle the overload and social workers strive to limit repeat gun injuries. It also examines the lives of victims and families, including a 6-year-old girl critically injured with a shotgun by her brother, a 12-year-old boy shot in the head and killed by a friend with a gun found on a bed, and a high school senior shot in the back while walking to school.”

Come join Mr. Durando (and possibly Dr. Keller) as they talk about the book and its aftermath. The talk will be on Zoom on March 31, 2021 at 5 p.m. eastern time. Please register via Eventbrite. You may purchase the book in a variety of venues.

Masks in Class

The Post and Courier ran the following article “SC educators say absence of masks, social distancing threatens in-person classes this fall” to highlight the challenges many schools are facing. Senior and Medical Humanities minor Maddie Gies is quoted in the article and shares her concerns:

Gies, who lives in downtown Charleston, said she’s felt discouraged and frustrated by the lack of masks she sees being worn on King Street and other public spaces near the heart of the college’s campus. Based off what she’s seen on social media, many of her friends are continuing to socialize as normal.

“I would love nothing more than to go out right now, but I can’t,” Gies said. “It’s just kind of hurtful because it makes me feel like I’m wasting my time or like you’re not taking it seriously or I’m having to sacrifice and you’re not. It’s just like a slow build of just seeing those things.”

Gies, who is studying special education, also worries that the spread of the virus will impact her ability to get in-person student teaching experience in the classroom this year.

At least two of the five classes she’s registered for in the fall have already been switched to take place solely online, she said, causing her to consider putting her studies on hold for a semester.

“It’s not just my senior year. It’s your kid going to school. It really affects everyone. And I don’t think people are realizing that,” she said.

Pick-up for College of Charleston face mask, hand sanitizer and sanitizer wipes for college offices at the Stern Center on Tuesday, May 26, 2020.

Since the article ran, the College released the Back on the Bricks plan for fall.