TRAILER
MEET THE PHYSICIAN-WRITERS
Dr. Danielle Ofri
Danielle Ofri MD, PhD is one of the foremost voices in the medical world today, speaking passionately about the doctor-patient relationship and bringing humanity back to health care. She is an internist at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the country and Editor-in-Chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, as well as a clinical professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine.
Dr. Rita Charon
Rita Charon, MD, PhD is a general internist and literary scholar who originated the field of narrative medicine. She is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics and Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons and Executive Director of the Columbia Division of Narrative Medicine. Her work in narratology focuses on intersubjectivity, reader theory, and the works of Henry James. Her research investigates narrative medicine training, reflective practice, and health care justice and has been supported by the NIH, the NEH, and private foundations. She has authored, co-authored, or co-edited four books on narrative medicine. She lectures and teaches internationally on narrative medicine and is widely published in leading medical and literary journals.
Samuel Shem
Samuel Shem, MD is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU Medical School, a novelist, playwright, and activist. His first novel, The House of God, was called “one of the two most important American medical novels of the 20th century” by The Lancet. His new novel is Man’s 4th Best Hospital.
Dr. Deepu Gowda
Deepthiman Gowda, MD joined the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine as Assistant Dean for Medical Education from Columbia University, where he served as Director of Clinical Practice in the Program in Narrative Medicine and Director of Foundations of Clinical Medicine Tutorials at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Gowda is a general internist and his research has focused on narrative medicine and the use of visual art in medical education, inter-professional education, and the Core + Clusters approach to clinical skills training. Dr. Gowda is committed to bringing about a more person-centered, equitable, and effective healthcare system through inspired and engaging medical education.
Dr. Rafael Campo
Rafael Campo, MD teaches and practices medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Author of eight highly acclaimed books, he is the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Amherst College, a National Poetry Series award, and a Lambda Literary Award for his poetry; his third collection of poetry, Diva (Duke University Press, 2000), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He currently serves as Director of Literature and Writing Programs of the Arts and Humanities Initiative at Harvard Medical School and Poetry Section editor for JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Audrey Shafer - Pegasus Physician Writers
Audrey Shafer, MD is an anesthesiologist at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, and Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. She directs the Stanford Medicine & the Muse Program, and is a co-founder of the Pegasus Physician Writers. She wrote The Mailbox, a children’s novel on post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans. Her poetry on medical and family life has been published in journals and anthologies and heard on NPR.
Dr. Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu
Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu, MD is a resident in psychiatry and a columnist for STAT. She received her MD from the University of Virginia in the spring of 2016. Jennifer is passionate about exploring the intersection between medicine and media. She worked as a medical student producer for The Dr. Oz Show and as an intern for CNN's medical unit. She is a columnist for STAT News. She has appeared as special guest at the annual Student Story Slam at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Ken Browne
After becoming an Emmy Award winning film editor and producer with Major League Baseball, Ken Browne launched his company in 1986 which has produced sports docs, corporate films, and video to support school success and university outreach. Ken’s belief in the impact of the arts and education has inspired PBS documentaries, including Four Hands One Heart (2000), Mondays at Skimmilk (2008) and Small School Big City (2011). Look! I’m in College! (2010), which chronicled the first NYC public school students with autism to attend college, earned the Paul Robeson Award for Best Short Documentary at the 2010 Newark Black Film Festival. A native New Yorker, Ken resides in Montclair, New Jersey.
“Why Doctors Write reminds us as physicians and educators that our lives are entwined with our patients through a shared narrative that can be captured and preserved in writing. ”