Medicine
Eric Cheng is a primary care physician for the VA, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA, a devoted husband and father, and an occasional poet. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he draws inspiration from his patients' incredible stories, the curiosity of medical students, the even greater curiosity of his two boys, and the dynamic faith community at the Garden Christian Fellowship. The following poem is from his recently published poetry collection, A Snail's Pace.
**
OUR OWN CHILDREN
Your child is obnoxious
and loud, while
mine is confident and assertive.
Your child won’t share
his toys or play
with the other children, but mine
is independent and not easily
pushed around.
Your child is stubborn and hard-
nosed. Mine is firmly
principled, holding his ground.
Your child cries
all the time; mine is sensitive and in touch
with his innermost feelings.
Your child’s fingernails are filthy, caked
with dirt and sand, yet
mine maintains his vital connection
with mother earth.
Your child flings food all over himself
and everything else, and manages to pee
on the bathroom walls. Mine possesses a keen eye
for modern art.
Your child is hyperactive, always running headlong
into things. Mine seems
to me – poetry
in motion.
- Eric Cheng
- What Should Doctors Do At Well-child Visits?
As a family physician who provides care to children, and as a father of four ranging in age from 7 months to 8 years, I have a professional and personal interest in the content of well-child visits beyond childhood immunizations. Not only can health maintenance...
- Life And Career Transitions
As I wrote about in a previous post, my wife and I are expecting our third child to be born any day now. Along with this joyful transition in my family life, I'm looking forward to an upcoming career transition as well. In mid-April, I will re-join...
- Guest Blog: Having An Mri/waiting For Laundry
Jan Bottiglieri is a writer and editor, and a poetry student in the MFA program at Pacific University. She lives in Schaumberg, Illinois. The following piece was first published in the Bellevue Literary Review. ** HAVING AN MRI / WAITING FOR LAUNDRY I...
- Guest Blog: Cleft
Jon Neher is clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and associate director of the Valley Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program. He is editor-in-chief of the newsletter Evidence-Based Practice and a...
- Guest Blog: I Want To Work In A Hospital
Cortney Davis is the author of four poetry collections, most recently "Leopold's Maneuvers," winner of the 2003 Prairie Schooner Poetry Prize. She is co-editor of two anthologies of poetry and prose by nurses, "Between the Heartbeats" and "Intensive...
Medicine
Guest Blog: A Snail's Pace
Eric Cheng is a primary care physician for the VA, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA, a devoted husband and father, and an occasional poet. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he draws inspiration from his patients' incredible stories, the curiosity of medical students, the even greater curiosity of his two boys, and the dynamic faith community at the Garden Christian Fellowship. The following poem is from his recently published poetry collection, A Snail's Pace.
**
OUR OWN CHILDREN
Your child is obnoxious
and loud, while
mine is confident and assertive.
Your child won’t share
his toys or play
with the other children, but mine
is independent and not easily
pushed around.
Your child is stubborn and hard-
nosed. Mine is firmly
principled, holding his ground.
Your child cries
all the time; mine is sensitive and in touch
with his innermost feelings.
Your child’s fingernails are filthy, caked
with dirt and sand, yet
mine maintains his vital connection
with mother earth.
Your child flings food all over himself
and everything else, and manages to pee
on the bathroom walls. Mine possesses a keen eye
for modern art.
Your child is hyperactive, always running headlong
into things. Mine seems
to me – poetry
in motion.
- Eric Cheng
- What Should Doctors Do At Well-child Visits?
As a family physician who provides care to children, and as a father of four ranging in age from 7 months to 8 years, I have a professional and personal interest in the content of well-child visits beyond childhood immunizations. Not only can health maintenance...
- Life And Career Transitions
As I wrote about in a previous post, my wife and I are expecting our third child to be born any day now. Along with this joyful transition in my family life, I'm looking forward to an upcoming career transition as well. In mid-April, I will re-join...
- Guest Blog: Having An Mri/waiting For Laundry
Jan Bottiglieri is a writer and editor, and a poetry student in the MFA program at Pacific University. She lives in Schaumberg, Illinois. The following piece was first published in the Bellevue Literary Review. ** HAVING AN MRI / WAITING FOR LAUNDRY I...
- Guest Blog: Cleft
Jon Neher is clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and associate director of the Valley Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program. He is editor-in-chief of the newsletter Evidence-Based Practice and a...
- Guest Blog: I Want To Work In A Hospital
Cortney Davis is the author of four poetry collections, most recently "Leopold's Maneuvers," winner of the 2003 Prairie Schooner Poetry Prize. She is co-editor of two anthologies of poetry and prose by nurses, "Between the Heartbeats" and "Intensive...