Articles & Media
Video: “Tools of the Trade”
Watch Danielle Ofri read the moving essay “Tools of the Trade” from her book Incidental Findings. More
Washington Post review of “Medicine in Translation”
by Sarah Halzack Washington Post The first patient introduced in “Medicine in Translation” is Samuel Nwanko, a Nigerian man who came to the United States seeking medical treatment after he nearly died when gang members beat him and poured acid on him, permanently damaging his eyes and disfiguring his face. His story makes for a … More
Writing “Medicine in Translation”
by Danielle Ofri Huffington Post The first book I wrote custom essays uk about medicine, “Singular Intimacies,” did not start out as a book. It started out as a breather–an exhalation, you might say–after a decade of medical training at Bellevue Hospital. After ten years of exams, hospitals, illness and death, I needed some air. … More
Writing About Patients: Is it Ethical?
There is a veritable epidemic of doctor-writers out there. What about confidentiality? Professionalism? HIPAA? More
New York Times review of “Medicine in Translation”
by Sam Roberts New York Times “When my immigrant grandmother contracted a contagious disease on her voyage to America from Eastern Europe, she was deposited in a London hospital, alone and unable to speak a word of English. Her story has evoked terror every time I have heard it. Imagine being afraid of medical treatment, … More
“Medicine in Translation” video trailer
Danielle Ofri’s book–“Medicine in Translation”–tackles two of the hottest button issues of our day: immigration and health care. “Timely, beautiful, and heartbreaking…” A memoir of medicine, family, immigration and culture. More
Book Launch for “Medicine in Translation”
It was a frigid January night, but happily that didn’t stop booklovers from coming out to Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. Seventy fans and friends packed the seats to hear Danielle Ofri read from her new book, “Medicine in Translation.” She read aloud about her experience caring for a Tibetan hunger striker … More
Found in Translation–excerpt from Audiobook
Listen to the the amusing story of one doctor navigating the world’s languages in a simple clinic session.  “Found in Translation” is an excerpt from audio book of “Medicine in Translation” More
People, Panic, and Pandemics
The fact that a half-a-million people die each year from filariasis, Guinea worm, and onchocerciasis elicits little more than a yawn. But diseases like Ebola and swine flu had us riveted: horrific pathogens from the primordial African or Asian muck could migrate to infect the innocent Western world. Sounds like a thriller movie. Which it was. Outbreak, in 1995, grossed more money than the budget for most health departments. More
Humanizing Medicine: The Small Details
by Danielle Ofri Huffington Post “Angelina Gomez,†the medical assistant hollers out to the crowded waiting room. As always, I cringe when I hear this. It sounds so harsh, so cattle-like. I know that the assistant is actually a gentle and caring person, and I understand that he uses a loud voice so that he … More
Let Me Down Easy–Anna Deveare Smith
Every illness is unique, and every person faces illness in his or her own way. Anna Deveare Smith, in her one-woman show “Let Me Down Easy,†slips into the persona of twenty-one individuals who have faced an aspect of illness or death. In ninety minutes, Deveare Smith takes the audience on an existential scavenger hunt, … More
An Outbreak of Poetry (and Prose) at Bellevue
The waiting area in Bellevue Hospital was full. Every chair was taken. But the people kept streaming in. More chairs had to be brought in. It wasn’t clear if the room could accommodate everyone. This wasn’t the emergency room or the clinic waiting area, however. It was the scene of the Bellevue Literary Review poetry … More
Danielle Ofri profiled on NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’
Melissa Block of “All Things Considered” followed Danielle Ofri on her rounds at Bellevue Hospital. Listen below or read the transcript. And here is the wonderful poem Gaudeamus Igitur that Danielle read on the air. More
Contagious–Book Review
In search of gripping plots and compelling characters, writers have always pilfered from reality. Plagues and epidemics—with their threats of mass destruction, overtones of divine retribution, nefarious villains and innocent victims—have particularly enthralled novelists. More
Cold Souls–Movie Review
“How does the medical profession treat the patient with pains of the soul? Traditionally, we offer psychotherapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, sometimes a condescending pat on the shoulder. But what if we could extirpate the root-cause pathology? Just as we resect a melanoma, drain an abscess, excise an inflamed gallbladder, why couldn’t the medical profession simply extract the angst-ridden soul?…” More
