A Medical Writing Life
When people ask me which came first, the writing or the doctoring, I am quick to tell them it was the former. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I was not writing, in some form or fashion, at any point in my life.
Category Archives: Daily Dose
2019: Our Year in Review
Dear Doctors Who Create community, It has been a wonderful year (and decade!) for our community, and for the intersection of medicine and creativity. From starting this community in April 2015, to having our inaugural conference, Creativity in Medicine, in April 2019, we have focused on bringing you content,
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No entiendo los agujeros en el espacio En que se ven muy claro las lágrimas Sangrientas. No veo bien las caras Ignoradas de los niños llorientos. No Leo las leyes de mi país sincorazón. Editor’s note: this poem was originally written in Spanish and translated
Epistemology
Half the block is at funerals As my blossoms glisten heedless spring. I can vouch for millennials as if I know, in middle age, a goddamn thing. How would I know what it means to live in a city where fewer murders is a goal
Ritual
This is the second poem in our series of poetry by Dr. Zackary Berger. You can read his first poem, Detachment, at the link here. Ritual What is the name for the nothingness you descend into in that moment before you take a seat say
Detachment
The new blossom is born old. Each atom has met the inside of a distant furnace Vibrating with the fear of disintegration. There were me and two students, bending low over the man’s leg, its bullae. He used to be a ballplayer. I asked how
Doctora Gringa
Hola, buenas buenas, soy Doctora Gringa. ¿Cuál es el motivo de su visita hoy? Hi, good morning good morning, I’m Doctor Gringa. What brings you to clinic today? I have studied Spanish language and Latinx cultures for the past 13 years. I lived in Central
2018: Our Year in Review
Dear Doctors Who Create readers, As 2018 comes to a close, we would like to thank you for supporting our effort to promote a culture and community of creativity in medicine, and share some highlights from this past year: Last year, one of our resolutions was to
Pursuing Virtue: The Physician’s Calling in Ancient India
The medicine of ancient India, also called the Ayurveda, combined mystical experience with scientific inquiry to construct a commentary on life and tradition. The term Ayurveda itself combines the Sanskrit words Ayur, or life, and veda, or science and knowledge. However, the “life science” of
‘The Nocturnists’ Podcast!
As a burned out resident, hoping to reconnect with my own humanity and remind myself of the deep meaning present in my job, (and provide a platform for others to do the same), I started The Nocturnists, a live storytelling event for doctors and other
Combating the decreased attendance of women at breast and cervical cancer screening tests
Breast and cervical cancers are considered the most common cancers amongst women, and the American Cancer Society estimates the incidence of breast and cervical cancer for 2018 to be 266,120 and 13,240, respectively. Unfortunately, fatality due to both is high, with the poorest prognosis occurring
The Poor Historian
Fiction Martin Hess sat with arms crossed in the family doctor’s waiting room. This was the third doctor he’d visited in as many months. Frustration and fear called up an image of Ben, who recently sat right where he was, before his nightmare began. Ben
Tattoo
I asked my dying patient today if she had any regrets? She said, I wish I had gotten a tattoo but I don’t know what I would’ve gotten it of. Is there anything more human than that? To want to have something permanent to stamp
The Doctor as Patient, Part III of VI
This is part III of a series by Dr. Erika Landau that documents her experience as a physician battling breast cancer. Link to Part I Link to Part II After I felt the lump, I made an
2017: Our Year in Review
Dear readers of Doctors Who Create, Another year has passed by quickly, and we’ve been excited to share new content and ideas from writers around the world with you in this past year. We remain ever-thankful to you for being a part of the Doctors
going
i remember my first time with dying it came suddenly and stayed i didn’t know how a dot could be a line i feel it surreally, still today the murmurs in the hallway easily blending into the cycles of daily caretaking we went through the
The Conversation
Joe sat wheelchair-bound in the exam room, pale and gaunt with his nasal oxygen cannula hissing at high flow. He was a shell of the sturdy working man who I met less than a year ago, when he regularly accompanied his wife to her appointments.
The Doctor as Patient, Part II of VI
This is part II of a series by Dr. Erika Landau that documents her experience as a physician battling breast cancer. Link to Part I I am still young, I eat healthy, I exercise, and I do not drink, never smoked, and never even tried
My Doctor
Mr. R. is 68 years old and has not seen a physician in many years. “I’m old school—I never went to the doctor unless something was wrong.” At his age, he is beginning to see his friends develop various ailments and decided a check-up wouldn’t
Provocations on Infrastructure: Energy
The alarm rings through the hallway and resonates with the chorus of vibrating beepers. One can almost feel the adrenaline in the room as everyone perks up their ears, stands up, and rushes out of the room. An emergency is afoot. Someone is dying, or
