Bienvenido, bienvenue, hello and welcome to the website, www.elementarymydearmd.com, and blog of the Elementary My Dear Humanities in Medicine Podcast Experience.

My name is Dr. Michelle K. Watson, my pronouns are she/her/hers/ela/ella/elle, and as your bold, unabashedly intrepid host, I am pleased to have you accompany me on this sublime audio journey where the belief is that equity in medicine can be both evolutionary and revolutionary.

Our mission in healthcare is to include and stay divine, every single time. 

I am thrilled to have you accompany me on this journey to educate, investigate, evaluate, and create an open think tank for solutions necessary for achieving healthcare equity for BIPOC populations around the world.

January 6^th is celebrated annually as Three Kings’ Day, or for my Latinx community subscribers and followers:

El Dia de los Tres Reyes.

For those who share Portuguese ancestry like myself, the day is referred to as Dia de Reyes, or Festa dos Reis.

It is also referred to as The Epiphany, the feast commemorating the visit of the three wise Magi, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar on their sojourn to the Christ Child to offer homage and gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

“We Three Kings of Orient Are“, is the popular hymn descriptive of this event,

written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins Jr of Pennsylvania for a New York City holiday festival in 1857. 

It begins with:

We Three Kings of Orient are,

Bearing gifts we traverse afar,

Field and fountain, 

Moor and mountain,

Following yonder star.

Feel free to listen to this hymn via the link listed in the description area of the related, similarly titled Humanities in Medicine Podcast experience DEI Weekly Wrap Up podcast episode in the EMD Executive Audio page of this website, http://www.elementarymydearmd.com.

Popular Epiphany customs celebrated worldwide include carol singing, chalking the door with a message of blessing, having one’s home blessed, processions, attending church services, and consuming Three Kings cake.

International celebrations include a widely attended procession, with boys arrayed as the Magi on horseback to present the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Three young boys in regal robes and splendid crowns proceed towards the main church where a festival Mass is celebrated. The way before them is decorated with streamers, palm leaves and balloons with the smallest children present lining the way, shouting greetings to the Kings. A lavish buffet is provided to the community afterwards. This endeavor is gladly undertaken since having a son serve as a king is considered a great honor and a blessing on the chosen family. 

In many Latin American countries, on the Día de los Tres Reyes, children receive gifts under the Christmas tree in a similar fashion to Christmas day. On this day public areas are very active with children accompanied by their parents trying out their new toys.

The day before the feast (January 5), the “Rosario de Reyes” or “Promesa de Reyes” is celebrated with songs called aguinaldos promised to be sung to the Kings, usually before a little table with figures of the Nativity and the Kings.

A common practice is to leave toys under the children’s beds on January 5, so when they wake up on January 6, they are made to believe the gifts and toys were left from the Three Kings.

In Puerto Rico, Three Kings’ Day is an important festive holiday. The Three Wise Men of Puerto Rico, according to local tradition, arrive on horseback. It is traditional for children to fill a box with fresh grass or hay and put it underneath their bed, for the Wise Men’s horses. The three kings will then take the grass to feed the horses and will leave gifts under the bed as a reward. Many artisans make commemorative historical figures of the Magi riding horses. 

Three Kings cake is traditionally served with a trinket, coin or almond baked inside. A feature part of an Epiphany party is a king is hidden in a cake, and whichever child finds the king in the cake is crowned king or queen for the day, signified by wearing the paper crown that decorates the cake. According to tradition this person will be lucky in the coming year.

In England, a traditional dish for Epiphany is Twelfth Cake, a rich, dense, fruitcake. Whoever finds the baked-in bean is king for a day, but uniquely to English tradition, other items are sometimes included in the cake. Whoever finds the clove is the villain, and the twig, the fool. Anything spicy or hot, like ginger snaps and spiced ale, is considered proper Twelfth Night gastronomic fare, recalling the costly spices brought by the Wise Men.

In France people share a king cake. The cake contains a charm, usually a porcelain or plastic figurine.

The cake is cut by the youngest (therefore most innocent) person at the table to assure that the recipient of the charm is random. The person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket becomes “king” or “queen” and wears a paper crown provided with the cake. In some regions this person has a choice between offering a beverage to everyone around the table (usually a sparkling wine or champagne), or volunteering to host the next king cake at their home.

Some Germans eat a Three Kings cake, which is a golden pastry ring filled with orange and spice representing gold, frankincense and myrrh, with the trinket and gold paper crown included. As in other countries, the person who receives the piece or bun containing the trinket or whole almond becomes the king or queen for a day.

The interval between Epiphany and Mardi Gras in Louisiana is sometimes known as “king cake season”. The Carnival season begins on King’s Day or Epiphany, and there are many traditions associated with that day in Louisiana and along the Catholic coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

All Humanities in Medicine Podcast Experience blog articles and podcast episodes illustrate the significance and virtues of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) concepts of cultural competence and cultural humility with an extensive healthcare literature review, and touches of world culture, humor and musicality.

All ages, gender identities, races, nationalities, creeds, religions, and ethnicities worldwide are welcome to enjoy an audio escapist edutainment moment with me, Dr. Watson, the podcast creator, producer, and host.

Join me, Dr. Watson, your Chief Diversity Guru, producer, and host, on this groundbreaking audio revolution for a new episode every month on all major podcast hosting platforms.

To learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion done the EMD Executive way, head on over to the links listed in the description area. Be certain to visit my website and landing page and sign up for exclusive content, DEI healthcare news, and a most wicked plethora of edutainment delectables to titillate your fancy.

To learn more about my experiences in diversity, equity, and inclusion as a physician, purchase my book, The Women of Purpose Anthology, a collection of inspiring stories from empowered women from all walks of life from the EMD Executive Equity online store on this website.

Informed, culturally relevant content.

Custom-created and curated for an informed listener base.

For a more informed future.

Elementary my dear listeners.

I am Dr. Michelle K. Watson, innovator, producer, host, and creator of the Elementary My Dear Humanities in Medicine Podcast Experience. Join me on this audio revolution for a new episode every month on all major podcast hosting platforms. 

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I thank you for allowing me to be of service to you.

This is Dr. Michelle K. Watson, signing off, wishing all of you a safe and equitable life journey.

Until we meet again.

For the next episode in this revolution.

Evolve safely.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Namaste.