State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Raphy Rosen

  • What They See: A Final Account from TCC

    Over the past few months Raphy Rosen has been sending us updates from his job as the CSSR-TCC intern at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center. He’s walked us through stories of former beauty queens, dabblers in polytheism, lovebirds, and resident cheerleaders, to name a few. While these stories are moving and more often…

  • The Infinite Space Between Life and Death: 3 Case Reports from Raphy Rosen

    Raphy‘s last account chronicled the bright side of living at TCC; the camaraderie and playfulness that at times exudes from the patients. This sunny reality is made much more exciting by the contrasting darkness of that to which it is opposed. While hospitals strive to cultivate health, they are inevitably overshadowed by illness and loss.…

  • Playful Times at TCC

    Some children remark that as they grow older, the roles they play with their parents seem to switch. The cared for become the caregiver and vice versa. This seemingly cyclical reversion to a time of jovial frivolity does not escape the patients at TCC. With his ever-reliable dry wit Raphy brings us a short anecdote that likens…

  • A Note on the Vocabulary of Death from Raphy Rosen

    A quick note: I spoke with one of the nurse managers, Ms. Rose Smith, who has a background in palliative care and worked as a hospice nurse for many years. She made one particularly interesting point about palliative care which is well worth sharing: Ms. Smith hates the word “expired”, which is common parlance in…

  • The Place of Religion and Doctor-Patient Relationships at TCC

    Each week or so when Raphy sends me his next installment of posts on his time at Terence Cardinal Cooke Medical Center, I open the files, begin to read, and am immediately taken in by the candidness of his observations. Almost all of Raphy’s posts include one or more vignettes concerning the life and experiences…

  • Dealing with Disorder: Stories from TCC’s Huntington’s Disease Unit

    It is easy to take the relationship between body and mind for granted. We wake up in the morning, kick the alarm clock across the room, and pull the sheets back over our heads with little thought. There are few people who would simultaneously consider the neural activity that precipitated their habitual movements while burrowing…

  • Tales of the inspired and the inspiring: Notes from a CSSR-TCC intern

    In his next posts Raphy Rosen relays stories of TCC’s one-woman cheering squad, and makes a case for the importance of input from nursing assistants in the doctor’s decisions on treatment. To learn more about the CSSR-TCC internship click here. 7- Inspiring patients Those of you who have been following these posts might recall a…

  • Who Cares About Care?: 2 reports from Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center

    In his time at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center our intrepid intern, Raphy Rosen, has learned of the intricacies of staff-patient relationships. In his next two posts, Raphy discusses the complications of closeness and asks the deceptively simple question, who cares about care? 5- Not too Attached One of the dilemmas that a…

  • What is Truth: The First Question from Raphy Rosen, a CSSR-TCC Intern

    The field of medicine is concerned with life, yet life cannot be studied without an understanding of death. The CSSR’s internship with the Terence Cardinal Cooke Hospital and Medical Center allows undergraduate students to grapple with the ethics surrounding life and death. Each summer two undergraduate students are selected to intern at TCC for 10…

Colorful banner image over Earth with text "Open House Discover Science, October 19, 2024, 10am to 4pm

Join us on Saturday, October 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House! Celebrate 75 years of science with us at our beautiful Palisades, NY campus. The event is free and open to everyone, with a suggested $5 donation. Learn More and RSVP

  • What They See: A Final Account from TCC

    Over the past few months Raphy Rosen has been sending us updates from his job as the CSSR-TCC intern at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center. He’s walked us through stories of former beauty queens, dabblers in polytheism, lovebirds, and resident cheerleaders, to name a few. While these stories are moving and more often…

  • The Infinite Space Between Life and Death: 3 Case Reports from Raphy Rosen

    Raphy‘s last account chronicled the bright side of living at TCC; the camaraderie and playfulness that at times exudes from the patients. This sunny reality is made much more exciting by the contrasting darkness of that to which it is opposed. While hospitals strive to cultivate health, they are inevitably overshadowed by illness and loss.…

  • Playful Times at TCC

    Some children remark that as they grow older, the roles they play with their parents seem to switch. The cared for become the caregiver and vice versa. This seemingly cyclical reversion to a time of jovial frivolity does not escape the patients at TCC. With his ever-reliable dry wit Raphy brings us a short anecdote that likens…

  • A Note on the Vocabulary of Death from Raphy Rosen

    A quick note: I spoke with one of the nurse managers, Ms. Rose Smith, who has a background in palliative care and worked as a hospice nurse for many years. She made one particularly interesting point about palliative care which is well worth sharing: Ms. Smith hates the word “expired”, which is common parlance in…

  • The Place of Religion and Doctor-Patient Relationships at TCC

    Each week or so when Raphy sends me his next installment of posts on his time at Terence Cardinal Cooke Medical Center, I open the files, begin to read, and am immediately taken in by the candidness of his observations. Almost all of Raphy’s posts include one or more vignettes concerning the life and experiences…

  • Dealing with Disorder: Stories from TCC’s Huntington’s Disease Unit

    It is easy to take the relationship between body and mind for granted. We wake up in the morning, kick the alarm clock across the room, and pull the sheets back over our heads with little thought. There are few people who would simultaneously consider the neural activity that precipitated their habitual movements while burrowing…

  • Tales of the inspired and the inspiring: Notes from a CSSR-TCC intern

    In his next posts Raphy Rosen relays stories of TCC’s one-woman cheering squad, and makes a case for the importance of input from nursing assistants in the doctor’s decisions on treatment. To learn more about the CSSR-TCC internship click here. 7- Inspiring patients Those of you who have been following these posts might recall a…

  • Who Cares About Care?: 2 reports from Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center

    In his time at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center our intrepid intern, Raphy Rosen, has learned of the intricacies of staff-patient relationships. In his next two posts, Raphy discusses the complications of closeness and asks the deceptively simple question, who cares about care? 5- Not too Attached One of the dilemmas that a…

  • What is Truth: The First Question from Raphy Rosen, a CSSR-TCC Intern

    The field of medicine is concerned with life, yet life cannot be studied without an understanding of death. The CSSR’s internship with the Terence Cardinal Cooke Hospital and Medical Center allows undergraduate students to grapple with the ethics surrounding life and death. Each summer two undergraduate students are selected to intern at TCC for 10…