Articles & Media
Fascinating Tapestry – “Medicine in Translation”
Story Circle Book Reviews The threads of Danielle Ofri’s memoir, Medicine in Translation, come together in a fascinating tapestry, with shimmers of what it is to be a physician, a mother, a writer and musician, a person with opinions trying to open herself to a world full of differences. She writes well, and the stories … More
True Stories – “Medicine in Translationâ€
by Elaine Zimbel In person Dr. Danielle Ofri is an impressive woman with a healthy respect for the doctor/patient relationship. She was guest speaker at a McGill University seminar entitled “Singular Intimacies: literature as a bridge between doctor and patientâ€, a topic which particularly interested me since I had given courses of my own design … More
The Pastor’s Son
There was a sharp rap at the apartment door. When Samuel Chuks Nwanko opened it, he saw a young man standing in the hallway wearing a stained denim jacket over a University of Nigeria T-shirt. The whites of his eyes were spidered with crimson streaks. He was probably a fellow university student, but not in the civil engineering department. Samuel didn’t recognize him. More
Why Patients Don’t Take Their Meds
For a substantial number of people, medicine from a prescription is automatically suspect. But if it comes from a health food store, there’s not a hint of concern. More
Patient by Patient – review of “Medicine in Translation”
 Jewish Book Council Often lost in rancorous public debates is the impact proposed social changes will have on individuals. The health care reform bill recently passed by Congress is one such case. Billions of dollars may be saved and millions of people will have health insurance. But what can happen to a specific, living, breathing individual? Danielle Ofri’s latest offering, Medicine in Translation, may … More
A Patient, a Death, but No One to Grieve
What if a patient dies and nobody is there to mourn? Is it like a tree falling silently in the forest? More
Scenes From the Lives They Lived in the City
”Nine P.M.,” somebody shouted. ”Rikers bus rollin’ in!” I stepped out of the Bellevue E.R. into the chilly spring night to see what the excitement was. Just pulling in was a school bus, the kind I’d taken every day in elementary school… More
Treating Patients When Language Is Only One of the Barriers
“A defective heart, a child detained by border guards — Julia Barquero had already had her struggles. But now her physician at Bellevue Hospital Center, Dr. Danielle Ofri, was trying to explain to Ms. Barquero that she could not receive a heart transplant because she was an illegal immigrant. More
At Bellevue, a hospital reflects a changing world
Though city hospitals invoke images of charity patients and substandard, last-resort medical care, the reality is quite different. More
Sometimes, Doctors Find Answers Far Off the Charts
Sometimes it is only when the patient is halfway out the door that the important information spills out. The “hand on the doorknob” phenomenon is well known in medicine. More
At a Bustling City Clinic, Esperanto Would Come In Handy
Despite three long years of high school French, the best I could come up with was “Je m’appelle Dr. Ofri.” More
A Literary Review at Bellevue? Believe It
“Just tell me a story,” Dr. Danielle Ofri admonishes her medical students and interns at morning rounds. To Dr. Ofri, an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center, a part-time writer and the editor in chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, every patient’s history is a mystery story, a narrative that unfolds full of surprises, exposing the vulnerability at the human core. More
Book Club Guides
Have a book club? Looking for something different? Beacon Press now offers book club guides for all of Danielle’s books. There is also a book club guide for “The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review” that is also a full medical humanities curriculum. Check them out and share with friends. What Doctors Feel Singular Intimacies … More
Interview for “A Sweet Life”
by Jane Kokernak “A Sweet Life” Danielle Ofri is a physician at New York’s Bellevue Hospital and co-founder and editor-in-chief of Bellevue Literary Review. Her twin roles are inextricable, and in both medicine and arts and letters she has illuminated how illness has meaning, in an individual’s life and in our culture. In the hospital … More
Hospital Rankings: Bulk and Bunk
Every year the U.S. New & World Report publishes its rankings of the nation’s top 50 hospitals. Hospital administrators await this top 50 report with a tension and fervor that rivals the NFL first-draft pick. What’s inside the sausage of hospital rankings? More
