For the From The Shelf series, MedHumChat founder and director Colleen Farrell asked leaders in medical humanities to share their reflections on some of their favorite books. We hope you’ll use these essays as inspiration as you grow your own bookshelves.
Theresa Brown, RN, is a clinical nurse, a frequent contributor to the New York Times, and author of The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives.
Irène Mathieu, MD is a poet and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia,. She is the author of three poetry collections – Grand Marronage (Switchback Books, 2019), orogeny (Trembling Pillow Press, 2017), and the galaxy of origins (dancing girl press & studio, 2014) – as well as numerous poems and essays.
Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako is a medical student at the Yale School of Medicine. He writes about racism and medical education in the medical student magazine “InTraining” and hosts a podcast focusing on health disparities called “Flip The Script.”
Jonas Attilus, MD, originally from Haiti is a graduate of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and is pursuing a MPH degree at Rutgers. His interests are social medicine, global health, global politics and healthcare systems.
Adam Rodman MD is a general internist, academic hospitalist, and Director of the Center for New Media at Beth Israel Deaconess Center in Boston. He is the host of the medical history podcast Bedside Rounds, produced in partnership with the American College of Physicians, as well as the podcast Origins. Here he shares medical history reads that explore not just the what but the why of medicine.
Suzanne Koven, MD has practiced primary care internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for over 25 years. In 2019 she was named inaugural Writer in Residence at Mass General. Here she reflects on the evolution of her relationship with literature over the course of her career.
Anna Leahy is the author of the nonfiction book Tumor and the poetry books Aperture and Constituents of Matter. She co-wrote the handbook Conversing with Cancer. Here she reflects on some of the works that influenced how she thinks about death and dying.
Adam Hayden is a philosopher, writer, advocate, and organizer for the brain tumor community. Diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2016, Adam has published on issues germane to medical education, cancer survivorship, and the philosophy of illness. Here he reflects on some of the books that have shaped his philosophy of medicine.
Emily Silverman is an internist at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and the creator and host of The Nocturnists, a live show and podcast of medical storytelling. Here she reflects on four of her favorite books.
