doctor-writers
Covid Writing Goes Viral
Covid Writing Goes Viral: How Literary & Social Media Writing Became a Lifeline during the Pandemic More
Black in the Ivory
Doctor-writers discuss how writing writing can–or cannot–confront racism in academia and healthcare. More
Doctor-Writers: What Are the Ethics?
There is a veritable epidemic of doctor-writers out there. What is going on? Are doctors suddenly in the kiss-and-tell mode? What about confidentiality? Professionalism? HIPAA? As one of the aforementioned doctor-writers, I look upon this trend with both awe and trepidation. More
“Healing Words” interview
Danielle Ofri interviewed at the Mayo Clinic about writing, healing, and medicine. More
“Literature about medicine may be all that can save us”
“Language, that most human invention,†wrote Oliver Sacks, “can enable what, in principle, should not be possible. It can allow all of us, even the congenitally blind, to see with another person’s eyes.†In the last decade or two, a new generation of doctor writers – including Atul Gawande, Abraham Verghese, Henry Marsh,Danielle Ofri, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Paul Kalanithi and Gavin Francis – have undertaken the mission of seeing in this fashion. More
Documentary: Why Doctors Write
Ken Browne Productions is excited to launch the film, “Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine.” Danielle Ofri is filmed at Bellevue Hospital along with one of her long-time patients. The film explores storytelling and creativity in medicine. More
Danielle Ofri discusses Oliver Sacks on NPR’s ‘Science Friday’
Danielle Ofri discusses Oliver Sack’s memoir “On the Move” with Maria Popova and Annie Minoff on NPR’s Science Friday. More
Storytelling in Medicine: the Passion and the Peril
So much of medicine is about stories—the ones we hear, the ones we tell, the ones we participate in—that it is no accident that doctors and nurses are attracted to stories. More
Medical Memoirs
Given the epidemic of doctor-writers out there, one could be forgiven for assuming that a book titled “Internal Medicine: A Doctor’s Stories,†written by a practicing physician, would be a work of nonfiction (and indeed, it is being marketed as such). But in the introduction, Holt writes that he is “recreating experience as parable,†More
History & Physical podcast series
Danielle Ofri discusses preserving empathy as a medical student, how she started writing, the role of narrative medicine, and the consequences of algorithmic medicine. More
Why Doctors Write
How does writing affect a doctor’s practice of medicine? What are the ethics of writing about patients? Should patients be part of the process? Watch the full program broadcast on WGBH -Boston. More
NYU Stories review of “What Doctors Feel”
A rare glimpse into the effects of shuttling from patient to patient without being allowed to process the powerful feelings—fear, anger, grief—that naturally arise when lives are at stake. More
Humanities For Science Majors
For one premed, a chance exposure to an unknown sliver of literature sprung open an entirely new world. The unexpected opportunity to steep in the humanities offered me ways to think and write about medicine that I doubt would have been accessible to me otherwise.
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Writing about Medicine
The hustle and bustle of the hospital leaves clinicians very little time for reflection. Writing is a way to slow down time. Writing allows us to revisit events and give them their due. More
New York Times review of “What Doctors Freel”
This book’s hallmark is honesty, particularly when it comes to the emotional fallout of her medical mistakes. More
