Finding Sick: Dispatches from the Emergency Department

Steve Server// At about 3:30 am during my first week in the Emergency Department, I realized that the space was different from anywhere else in the hospital.  Though it was my second night shift in a row, I wasn’t tired.  Or if I was tired, there were too many signals, too many sights and sounds and feelings…

Coffee with a Colleague: Physician, Author, and Educator, Jay Baruch, MD

Sarah Berry // This interview series features educators, scholars, artists, and healthcare providers whose work is vital to the growth of the health humanities. On Thursday, May 12, I interviewed Dr. Jay Baruch about his forthcoming essay collection Tornado of Life (MIT Press, August 2022), as well as medicine, narrative, and the role of writing…

Coffee With A Colleague: Michael Barthman

Physician and Poet Michael Barthman Sarah Berry // This interview series features educators, scholars, artists, and healthcare providers whose work is vital to the growth of the health humanities. On Friday, September 4, I interviewed Dr. Barthman about his work as an emergency physician, medical educator, health humanities blogger, and poet. Sarah Berry: Can you…

Notes from the Frontline: When Death Becomes Routine (Part 1)

David Thomas Peacock // I wasn’t prepared for so much death. Before I became an emergency room nurse, I worked on a neurology unit with stroke patients. I loved that job.  I gained a lot of clinical knowledge from my colleagues, but I learned even more about what it means to be a human faced…