Volume 3, Issue 3 - September 2011 - A special issue on mental illness - features a daughter's account of her mother's "dirty laundry," how a Taylor Swift song changed a man's life, and a young man's struggle with hunger—and his mother's struggle to acknowledge it. Karen De Looze explores Hindu faith healing while William Albury examines how changelings and extraterrestrials may have influenced conceptions of autism. Basil Brooke revisits the life of George Price, while Stephanie Ezell contemplates the mentally ill individual as visionary. A woman describes the privilege of her memory loss, a gallery of possessions offers relief for the anxious, and a young woman struggling with depression simply wants to be more for her partner. George Dunea wonders what fad diet Jane Austen's hypochondriac characters would subscribe to today, while others explore the doctor-patient relationship, medical history, and becoming a medical professional in both poetry and prose.

Volume 3, Issue 2 - May 2011 - A special feature on the end of life - features a glimpse at some unusual renal rounds in There is a time, Elisabeth Tova Bailey's exploration of a snail's world in her book excerpt, reflections on a father's glasses, the dangers of blind faith, a cardiacthoracic surgeon's valiant attempt to save a patient's life, and an infectious disease doctor's reflections on the Streptococcus. Explorations of art's boundaries crossed, how life is ended on the stage, and the modern wisdom of an old woman's lament precede daughters' reflections on their relationships with their fathers around times of illness and death. Authors rethink approaches to their inevitable deaths, while others explore the modern hospice movement's hope for the dying. Advance directives and the ethics of end-of-life care are examined while others reflect on teaching death, the death of children, and the ultimate question, "Is there a good death?"

Volume 3, Issue 1 - January 2011 - features African vignettes, including a rural health volunteer's starlit musings in Senegal, a teacher's photographic exploration of prayer in Africa, and a doctor's unexpected language connection with a patient from the French Congo. Patients dream of healing through art, Chicago artists describe artful science, and a scholar depicts the anatomy of beauty. Doctors' stories intermingle with thoughts on nursing diagnoses and morning notes in one corner while discussions of the cognitive default and the human condition occupy another. Poetry and public health—a student among cadavers, regrets from the VA, thoughts on how prisons discipline, and the reason behind rice in Chinese culture—conclude with stories of the breast cancer survivor's evolving journey.

Volume 2, Issue 3 - September 2010 - A special feature on the body- features a doctor's remarkable encounter with a pianist, a writer's personal journey to the clinic at Terezin, and a resident's exploration of the beauty and tragedy of surgically harvesting organs. An artist heals hidden wounds through painting while a woman recovering from anorexia finds growth in a healing dreamscape. Henry Crenshaw reconsiders the "Gone-a-gram" as the moniker of his new invention, a family physician explores what happens when children die, and a doctor determines the lesser of evils when treating a patient with addiction. A professor contemplates the body visualized through the ages, and another discusses the relationship between cause, disease, and blame. Can yoga, poetry, or beauty be therapeutic? And what happens when doctors encounter death in their personal lives?

Volume 2, Issue 2 - May 2010 - features a unique analysis of the Stone Operation by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, the first half of a feature on the history of the castrati, a doctor's encounter with a seriously disfigured Nigerian man, musings on being a patient by an endocrinologist, a historical review of lithotripsy, and Dr. Moore and 18th century medicine. A retired cardiac surgeon from California, a cardiac surgeon from Italy, a Chicago medical student, a medical ethicist from New Zealand, and a Chicago author share different perspectives on death. The topic of the brain is explored through acting techniques to enhance memory, Neural Darwinism, and the various metaphors for mind-reading in the scientific literature.

Volume 2, Issue 1 - February 2010 - features personal reflections by an anatomy professor in India, a retired pediatrics professor in Ireland, a medical oncologist from India, and a clinical pharmacologist from Nepal. Emily Dickinson makes an appearance in a riveting piece about the preciousness of eyesight. A comparison of ancient Mesopotamian and Hippocratic medicine is explored in the context of their contributions to modern medicine. Ludvig Hektoen, for whom this journal is named after, is remembered. An eclectic poetry selection by caregivers and patients shows us the healing power of words.

Volume 1, Issue 5 - November 2009 - features articles on integrating literature into healthcare, the Hippocratic Oath, the intersection of neuroscience and yoga, dream interpretation and insomnia across cultures. Also featured are reflections on a medical education in Croatia, medical illustrations rendered through technology, and a collection of artwork by a recovering trauma patient.

Volume 1, Issue 4 - August 2009 - features articles on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait through drawings, the history of tuberculosis, leprosy in Africa, creativity in medicine, psychiatrists in literature, Joseph B. Kirsner, and Dr. Hans Zinsser, the Renaissance man.  Also featured are various personal essays and poems by physicians, nurses and medical students.

Volume 1, Issue 3 - April 2009 - features articles on cannibalism, Dr. Knox and the body snatchers, disability and eugenics in the United States, grumpy doctors in short stories, teaching nursing at the morgue and the art museum, and many more.  Also featured is an art installation on HIV/AIDS.

Volume 1, Issue 2 - January 2009 - features articles on art and psychoanalysis, HIV/AIDS literature, nursing during the US civil war, Rudolf Virchow,  Eisenhower and Crohn's Disease, and many more.  Also featured is a reprint from Lancet on Emerging Infections: a Perpetual Challenge.

Volume 1, Issue 1 - Fall 2008 - features several reprints from the British Medical Journal, articles written by George Dunea, MD, President and CEO of the Hektoen Institute of Medicine.  Also, featured is an article by Editorial Board Member, John Last, MD, based on a paper given in a Symposium on “The role of the medical humanities in education and healing.”