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Tom Crann
St. Paul, Minn.

Can poetry heal?

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We all know ill-chosen words can hurt. But can well-chosen words heal? Or at least give us insight into the healing process? Poetry is an emotional outlet for patients and care-givers alike. In fact, the highly-technical Journal of the American Medical Association publishes a new poem in each monthly issue.

April is National Poetry month and we talked medical poetry with Dr. Jon Hallberg. Each year he brings in some of his favorite medical poems to talk about.

Jon is a physician in family medecine at the University of Minnesota, and he's director of the Center for Medical Humanities and the Arts at the U.