Suffering binds us in our humanity, and in the opinion of many physicians, medicine is optimally practiced when good evidence-based medicine and compassionate care intersect at the patient’s bedside. Literature, and specifically poetry, may enhance our ability to achieve that intersection. Poetry written by physicians about physicians, nurses, patients, or families may catalyze this effort. Our emotions - suffering, joy, frustration, and others - may be expressed in poetry that we write or altered by the poetry we read.

In this program, four physicians who are advocates of medical poetry - two as writers and two as “consumers” or readers - will offer a perspective on poetry’s value, and some original poetry will be read and discussed.