This
is a collection of poems about patients, written by a young physician in the
late 1960s. The book is organized around the theme of a hospital ward. Each
poem is named for a patient and has the patient’s disease as its subtitle. The
poet composed these poems during his own illness when, as he says in the
original Introduction, “my patients reappeared to me, and I lived again in my
mind all the many emotions we experienced together.” K. Dale Beernick died of
chronic myelocytic leukemia at the age of 31 in 1969. In Ward Rounds he
recounts his experiences as a medical student and house officer. He uses a variety of forms and techniques,
including rhyme, blank verse, haiku, and even one villanelle. The poems vary in
quality and impact. Among the best are "Penny Brown" (rheumatic heart
disease), "Theodosus Bull" (delirium tremens), "Anonymous"
(spontaneous abortion), and "Minnie Freeme" (post-necrotic
cirrhosis).
