Onward - Narratives at the Heart of Medicine

This book is a peek into the minds of those at the forefront of medicine. It elucidates the experiences, thoughts, and feelings at the heart of doctoring. Physicians are regarded as healers willing to sacrifice their time, money, and health to save lives. We expect physicians to be mediators between life and death with unerring accuracy. But how do physicians make these life-changing decisions in the face of uncertainty? How do they feel when they make the wrong call?

This collection of nonfiction and fiction pieces features a diverse set of voices including doctors and physicians-in-training of all ages across many medical specialties, ethnicities, cultures, and perspectives, who are connected through the Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford. Through them, we learn of the hardship and trauma that bound healthcare workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, they tell a complex, raw, multi-perspective tale of life as a doctor today. This anthology comes at a crucial moment as healthcare workers leave in record numbers and systems are stretched to the brink. This anthology stands at the intersection of literature and medicine and is uniquely modern in its diverse range of voices that join in giving readers a view into the hearts and minds of doctors. These are introduced by David Eagleman, an internationally bestselling author and Guggenheim Fellow who runs the podcast Inner Cosmos and is the writer and presenter of The Brain, an Emmy-nominated television series.

The editors hope that this book by physicians will not only inspire conversation among those who are in the medical field, but will also encourage aspiring and practicing clinicians to share their stories, increase the visibility of underrepresented voices in literature and medicine, and crucially, serve to challenge the barrier between doctors and patients illuminating and deepening the humanity at the heart of medicine.

Sommario

Chapter 1. Code; Benjamin Amendolara.- Chapter 2. Socks; Alexandra Belardo-DeFelice.- Chapter 3. Blue Tennis Shoes; Megan Campany.- Chapter 4. On ECMO and Ubers; Hannah Decker.- Chapter 5. Cold Coffee and Histology Slides; Rebecca Grossman-Kahn.- Chapter 6. The Manic Patient: Refusing Labs ; Rachel Han.- Chapter 7. March Manic; Lisa Jacobs.- Chapter 8. A Medical School Curse; Allison Neeson.- Chapter 9. Deep Love; Ava Satnick.- Chapter 10. Shadow; Jennifer Soh.- Chapter 11. The Return of the Night Visitor; Lisa Jacobs.- Chapter 12. Six Feet Apart; Richard Wu.- Chapter 13. Portraits of Mr. E; Steve Asch.- Chapter 14. The Birth Plan; Matt Bucknor.- 15. Medical Mystery of Ben Oco; Arjun Byju.- Chapter 16. A Boundaried Love;

Info autore

Jennifer Pien, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor and Stanford Medical Humanities & Arts faculty through the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University. In addition to her clinical work for physician well-being, she is the Director of Health Narratives at Stanford: The Pegasus Physician Writers, Founder of The Pegasus Review,  is on the faculty editorial team for the Oxford Review of Books x Stanford collaboration and the Advisory Board for the Bellevue Literary Press.
Lisa Jacobs, MD is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist in private practice in New York City and New Jersey. She serves as an Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences of the Stanford University School of Medicine. She serves as a group leader in The Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford. She graduated from Cornell University and completed her medical training at Brown University, The University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University. She is the 2019 winner in the prose category of the Irvin D. Yalom Literary Award for her short story, “Trapped In A Blizzard with a Politician in Withdrawal.”
Jennifer Soh received a master’s degree from Stanford Medicine in Community Health and Prevention Research and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in Bioengineering. She has been an active member of the Pegasus Physician Writers since 2021. She hopes to pursue a career working with underserved communities and writing to uplift and reflect on community stories.

Riassunto

This book is a peek into the minds of those at the forefront of medicine. It elucidates the experiences, thoughts, and feelings at the heart of doctoring. Physicians are regarded as healers willing to sacrifice their time, money, and health to save lives. We expect physicians to be mediators between life and death with unerring accuracy. But how do physicians make these life-changing decisions in the face of uncertainty? How do they feel when they make the wrong call?


This collection of nonfiction and fiction pieces features a diverse set of voices including doctors and physicians-in-training of all ages across many medical specialties, ethnicities, cultures, and perspectives, who are connected through the Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford. Through them, we learn of the hardship and trauma that bound healthcare workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, they tell a complex, raw, multi-perspective tale of life as a doctor today. This anthology comes at a crucial moment as healthcare workers leave in record numbers and systems are stretched to the brink. This anthology stands at the intersection of literature and medicine and is uniquely modern in its diverse range of voices that join in giving readers a view into the hearts and minds of doctors. These are introduced by David Eagleman, an internationally bestselling author and Guggenheim Fellow who runs the podcast Inner Cosmos and is the writer and presenter of The Brain, an Emmy-nominated television series.


The editors hope that this book by physicians will not only inspire conversation among those who are in the medical field, but will also encourage aspiring and practicing clinicians to share their stories, increase the visibility of underrepresented voices in literature and medicine, and crucially, serve to challenge the barrier between doctors and patients—illuminating and deepening the humanity at the heart of medicine.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Con la collaborazione di: Lisa Jacobs (Editore), Jennifer Pien (Editore), Jennifer Soh (Editore)
• Editore: Springer, Berlin
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 27.05.2026
• EAN: 9783032157751
• ISBN: 978-3-0-3215775-1
• Pagine: 151
• Illustrazioni: XXVIII, 151 p. 18 illus. in color.
• Categorie: Scienze naturali, medicina, informatica, tecnica > Medicina > Tematiche generali; Psychiatrie, Story, Psychiatry, Visibility, anthology, Medical Humanities, Clinical Medicine, Narrative medicine, Diverse voices, Underrepresented, Healer