Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine

12/06/2025

Honored to join a screening of Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine presented by the Edward D. Viner Center for Medical Humanism at Cooper Medical School of Rowan Universitywith a panel of amazing doctor-writers - Jack Coulehan, Rosalind Katz, Mara Gordon, at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia “the birthplace of American Medicine” Tuesday December 9, 5:30 - 8:30. Location is 19 S. 22 St. Philadelphia.

05/03/2021

Thank you Harlem International Film Festival for the incredible honor of being one of 71 films chosen for the 16th edition which takes place as a hybrid event taking place May 6-9. Why Doctors Write began filming at Bellevue Hospital and NYU Langone School of Medicine with the amazing writer-MD Danielle Ofri co-founder of the Bellevue Literary Review. We then moved north 130 blocks to Upper Manhattan to document the truly revolutionary Columbia Narrative Medicine program. From there we traveled to Boston to film physician-poet Rafael Campo and the Harvard Medical School Arts and Humanities Initiative at HMS, before heading across the US to show the work of Stanford Medicine and the Muse, and capture a moving Medical Student Story Slam with guest writer Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Thank you for recognizing the work of the film's clinicians who, even in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic, continue to champion the craft of writing as a way to care for themselves, their colleagues, and patients.

02/08/2021

Thank you Danielle Ofri and the Bellevue Literary Review for the
wonderful screening/panel event to celebrate the anniversary!
Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu from STAT
and Rafael Campo from JAMA AND Harvard Medical School
spoke movingly about how writing has informed their clinical careers.
Almost 200 attendees turned out to watch the film
and make the fundraiser for the BLR Artists Fund a huge success!

"Why Doctors Write" is an award-winning documentary by Ken Browne. Although copyright issues preclude us from including the documentary here, we invite you t...

01/29/2021

It was a great honor to screen Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine
as part the December 7 event hosted by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
and the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Thanks to cast members Drs. Rita Charon and Deepu Gowda
from Columbia Narrative Medicine for joining the panel discussion.

https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/12-07-2020/weaving-humanities-and-arts-into-the-fabric-of-medicine-a-virtual-workshop-film-discussion

Following the event USA TODAY published this
article by David Skorkin and Lisa Howley from the AAMC -

"As long as the pandemic cuts a deadly path across our world, science will of course be paramount. But none of our institutions
— and that includes government at all levels —should see the arts and humanities as frills.
They are essential to our welfare — even our survival.
The arts can not only help heal our bodies during these difficult times, they can help heal our souls."

Science is insufficient to the task ahead. The continuing challenges posed by the virus go well beyond the answers that science can possibly provide.

01/04/2021

Excited to "come full circle" with Danielle Ofri who generously
agreed four years ago to appear in a trailer to launch our film
Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine.
Completed in 2020, the film has been invited to help kick off
the Bellevue Literary Review 20th anniversary celebration!
Please join us along with Drs. Rafael Campo
and Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu who appear in the film -
and support the BLR writing community. Special thanks
to Dr. Ofri and Dr. Audrey Shafer for providing frontline Covid media for a special prologue and epilogue.

Buy tickets for "Why Doctors Write": Film and Panel Discussion on YouTube, Mon Jan 11, 2021 - Join Bellevue Literary Review and Ken Browne Productions for an exclusive screening of the award-winning documentary Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine. Tickets are $10. Event link (film and pa...

12/03/2020

We are honored and excited to be part of this virtual event hosted by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Association of American Medical Colleges on December 7 beginning at 2pm EST. The film screening begins at 4pm EST with a panel including Ken Browne Productions , Rita Charon and Deepu Gowda from Columbia Narrative Medicine. Its free and open to the public!

Learn more from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

10/13/2020

Exciting week for the film Why Doctors Write with the October 15 NY premier of the 35:00 film - joined by cast members Danielle Ofri and Columbia Narrative Medicine founder Rita Charon. Thank you The Arnold P. Gold Foundation for this honor and support since helping to launch this project in 2016.

The Gold Human InSight Webinar Series Presents Why Doctors Write: Finding Humanity in Medicine Screening and panel discussion This Gold Human InSight Webinar will feature the first full-length screening of ... chevron_right Read more

09/23/2020

Thank you UNAFF!
We are incredibly honored with this film festival selection!
- Documentaries that will change your view of the world. Celebrate the importance of human rights with the 23rd , one of the oldest documentary film festivals in the US, now online! UNAFF’s 11-day festival kicks off on October 15th, featuring 60 documentaries dealing with climate change, the refugee crisis, women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ issues, racism, and more. This year’s theme is THE POWER OF EMPATHY, emphasizing our readiness to care about other people’s emotional experiences. Learn more at http://www.unaff.org/2020/films.html

05/28/2020

Excited and grateful to be part of the virtual symposium tonight
with Stanford Medicine and the Muse
will be screening a Why Doctors Write
clip featuring doctor-writers affiliated with Stanford Medicine -
also on the program are wonderful medical student performers:
Stephen Marcott - “Just a Blond Kid” (narrative)
Valery Lou & Vivian Lou – Vivaldi, Violin Concerto in A minor, III. Allegro
Lillie Reed - “The Givens” (narrative)
Mika Tabata - “Garden” (musical)
Rebecca Bromley-Dulfano - “Mental Status vs. The Universe” (poetry)
Jane Thomas - “Poetry and Consent Paperwork Penned with Crayola Markers: Reflections on Writing as a Psychiatric Intervention” (narrative)
The full half hour film will be available for viewing after the event
on the Medicine & the Muse website.

May 28, 2020, 5:30 PM. VIRTUAL.