Biography
As a physician and teacher at the oldest public hospital in the United States, and as a writer and literary editor, Dr. Danielle Ofri speaks with unique insight into the practice of medicine in America.
She is an attending physician in Bellevue Hospital’s medical clinic, which has been the home of the most extraordinary human stories throughout its long history in the nation’s most diverse and complex city.
In her practice and as an Associate Professor of Medicine at New York University, Dr. Ofri has focused on reaching the real humanity of her patients and on teaching young doctors to how to do the same.
She is medicine's leading proponent of the power of story—and of literature—to teach healthcare providers and to improve the practice of medicine.
With award-winning stories of her experiences as a doctor, she also brings to general audiences first-hand accounts of the joys and challenges of medical practice, rich insights into how the healthcare system works, and poignant reflections on the human condition.
She is the author of several acclaimed books on life in medicine and patient care. Her newest book, What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine explores the hidden emotional world of the doctor and its impact on patient care. Her previous books include Medicine in Translation, Incidental Findings and Singular Intimacies.
Dr. Ofri's writings have been included in Best American Essays 2005 & 2002, and Best American Science Writing 2003. She received the Missouri Review Editor's Prize for nonfiction, and the McGovern award from the American Medical Writers Association.
Topics
Multiculturalism and Diversity
Like all areas in our culture, medicine faces many challenges in our multicultural society. Stereotypes can subtly undermine medicine's commitment to patient care. Dr. Ofri faces these challenges head-on. With a candid assessment of how biases infiltrate medicine, she generates unusual and creative ways to bridge cultural gaps.
Technology in Medicine
Technology is transforming medicine at a breathless pace. From computerized treatment algorithms to high-tech diagnostic tests to electronic medical records, every aspect of medicine has been refashioned by the digital revolution. What is the impact of this ongoing metamorphosis? How has the doctor-patient relationship been altered? Can patients still be healed within this sea of electronics? With a view from the trenches, Dr. Ofri digs beneath the often frightening technology to examine how doctors and patients can still connect.
Medical Error and the Ethics of Apology
As evidence mounts about the human cost of medical error, society is scrambling to find ways to contain this "epidemic." At the heart of the issue is how to coax a culture of secrecy and guilt into the light. Do the human beings who commit these errors — doctors and nurses — have the capacity within themselves to come forward and admit these errors? Dr. Ofri brings an insider's view of the struggle to confess error. With insight and honesty, she explores how medical personnel face the delicate issue of apologizing to a patient.
Bringing Back the Humanity to Medicine
As anyone who has ever been to the doctor knows, medicine isn't what it used to be. Despite enormous advances in healthcare, patients and doctors alike are dissatisfied with their experience. With confidence and thoughtfulness, Dr. Ofri seeks inspiration in even the unlikeliest of sources. From years of experience in some of the most challenging healthcare settings, Dr. Ofri brings wisdom and heart to medicine.
Medical Professionalism
Professionalism is a hot-button issue in the medical world. As the field comes under assault from all corners, health care workers can feel besieged and demoralized. Dr. Ofri goes right to the heart of the issue, and to the heart of the caregiver. Weaving wisdom from muses as diverse as Chekhov, Monday Night Football, and the legions of patients she has cared for, Dr. Ofri inspires caregivers to rekindle the ideals of medicine.
Doctor-Writers: An Epidemic?
More than any other field, medicine seems to inspire writing. Doctor-writers are everywhere these days and Dr. Ofri examines this trend with wit and poignancy. She is unafraid to dissect the ethical dilemmas inherent in medical writing. She illuminates the inherent connections between story-telling and medicine in a way that is accessible to a wide-ranging audience.
Books
"A born story-teller and a born physician…"
— Oliver Sacks
In her books and articles, Danielle Ofri has developed a signature style that combines compelling narrative with thoughtful reflection and focused reporting. She focuses on characters, the real people she cares for in her practice and their stories. These she uses to uncover the mysteries of human life and human nature, to explore the joys and problems of modern medical practice, and to ask questions about society's priorities.
Her newest book, What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine explores the hidden emotional world of the doctor and its impact on patient care.
Danielle's previous book, Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients, brings her unique voice and extraordinary perceptiveness to the experience of immigrants in the American medical system. Like her other books, the setting is the medical melting pot of New York City's Bellevue Hospital. This time, the characters are people who face more than just the challenge of their illness. Their languages, their cultures, complicated past, and often their legal status all make their stories more stirring than most.
Her first book, Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue, is regarded as one of the classic accounts of medical school and residency. By focusing on the emotional development of doctors, Ofri gives an insider’s account of what goes on beneath the white coat. With engaging prose and insight, this book distills "the essence of becoming and being a doctor" (New England Journal of Medicine).
Ofri’s second book, Incidental Findings: Lessons From My Patients in the Art of Medicine, is a sophisticated and thoughtful analysis of how doctors learn from patients. Including her own illuminating experiences of being a patient as well as teaching the next generation of doctors, Incidental Findings dissects the complex layers of modern medicine. If you’ve ever wanted to understand the person in whom you entrust your life, this is the book to read. Booklist calls it "An exceptional series of introspective essays." Incidental Findings is frequently used for book discussion groups with the
Reader's Guide from Beacon Press.
In The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review, Dr. Ofri and her co-editors have assembled a powerful and eloquent collection of poetry, fiction, and essays from The Bellevue Literary Review. An exhaustive
study guide has made this anthology popular with students, book groups, and staff development groups. NewPages.com says, "No human thing is more universal than illness, in all its permutations, and no literary publication holds more credibility on the subject than The Bellevue Literary Review."
Credentials
- Associate Professor of Medicine, New York University
- Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, Bellevue Literary Review. Editor, The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review.
- Author, Medicine in Translation, Singular Intimacies and Incidental Findings.
- Guest columnist, The New York Times' Well blog.
- Essays and reviews published in The New York Times, New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, The Los Angeles Times, and on NPR.
- Writings included in Best American Essays 2005 & 2002 and Best American Science Writing 2003.
- Recipient, the Missouri Review Editor's Prize for nonfiction
- Recipient, McGovern award from the American Medical Writers Association
- Associate chief editor of the award-winning textbook The Bellevue Guide to Outpatient Medicine
- PhD, pharmacology; MD; internist in internal medicine
Subjects
Danielle tailors each presentation to the needs of her audience and is not limited to the topics we have listed below. These are subjects that have proven valuable to customers in the past and are meant only to suggest her range and interests. Please ask us about any subject that interests you; we are sure that we can accommodate you.
Emotions, Doctors, and Patients
Despite the commitment to the scientific method, doctors are not nearly as rational and evidence-based as they tell themselves. Emotions permeate clinical decision-making, whether this is acknowledged or not. Dr. Ofri takes an unflinching look at the hidden emotional responses of doctors and how these directly affect the medical care that patients receive.
Medical Professionalism
Professionalism is a hot-button issue in the medical world. As the field comes under assault from all corners, health care workers can feel besieged and demoralized. Dr. Ofri goes right to the heart of the issue, and to the heart of the caregiver. Weaving wisdom from muses as diverse as Chekhov, Monday Night Football, and the legions of patients she has cared for, Dr. Ofri inspires caregivers to rekindle the ideals of medicine.
Doctor-Writers: An Epidemic?
More than any other field, medicine seems to inspire writing. Doctor-writers are everywhere these days and Dr. Ofri examines this trend with wit and poignancy. She is unafraid to dissect the ethical dilemmas inherent in medical writing. She illuminates the inherent connections between story-telling and medicine in a way that is accessible to a wide-ranging audience.
Medical Error and the Ethics of Apology
As evidence mounts about the human cost of medical error, society is scrambling to find ways to contain this "epidemic." At the heart of the issue is how to coax a culture of secrecy and guilt into the light. Do the human beings who commit these errors—doctors and nurses—have the capacity within themselves to come forward and admit these errors? Dr. Ofri brings an insider's view of the struggle to confess error. With insight and honesty, she explores how medical personnel face the delicate issue of apologizing to a patient.
Bringing Back the Humanity to Medicine
As anyone who has ever been to the doctor knows, medicine isn't what it used to be. Despite enormous advances in healthcare, patients and doctors alike are dissatisfied with their experience. With confidence and thoughtfulness, Dr. Ofri seeks inspiration in even the unlikeliest of sources. From years of experience in some of the most challenging healthcare settings, Dr. Ofri brings wisdom and heart to medicine.
Technology in Medicine
Technology is transforming medicine at a breathless pace. From computerized treatment algorithms to high-tech diagnostic tests to electronic medical records, every aspect of medicine has been refashioned by the digital revolution. What is the impact of this ongoing metamorphosis? How has the doctor-patient relationship been altered? Can patients still be healed within this sea of electronics? With a view from the trenches, Dr. Ofri digs beneath the often frightening technology to examine how doctors and patients can still connect.
Multiculturalism and Diversity
Like all areas in our culture, medicine faces many challenges in our multicultural society. Stereotypes can subtly undermine medicine's commitment to patient care. Dr. Ofri faces these challenges head-on. With a candid assessment of how biases infiltrate medicine, she generates unusual and creative ways to bridge cultural gaps.
How do physicians—especially residents in training—avoid becoming ungrounded and losing their sense of self?
Reviews
A top United States medical university:
Your presentation was WONDERFUL! You truly are a great storyteller (I knew that to be true through your writing, but you are a magnificent oral storyteller as well). I admired your authenticity and transparency in modeling how our own hidden biases and prejudices can be brought into the light of day and illuminated. What moving and hopeful stories these were...the people I saw were engrossed and engaged. You inspired those doctors to know themselves, so that they could know their patients.
A state medical association:
On behalf of the […] Medical Association, thank you for giving such a powerful keynote presentation at our Practice Management Symposium. The way you used stories from your book Incidental Findings to relate the impact of illness on us as individuals and health care professionals was engaging and thought provoking. I think it made us all curious about the personal connection we have with our patients (and colleagues) and how that connection has healing power.
Your presentation met everyone’s expectations, and in fact, 43 percent indicated you exceeded their expectations in regards to the value of the information to them, and 98% indicated they would be able to apply this to their job. "Great speaker, very engaging," "Interesting and uplifting," "Brought us to reality in a humorous way," and "Thanks for reintroducing the power of touch" were just a few of the comments received.
As a side note...from a meeting planner’s prospective, I must comment on what a pleasure it was work with you. You were so responsive to each and every request. Thank you!
A medical association:
Dr. Ofri was such a delight to work with and she did a fantastic job at our Symposium. We had more than 225 people there, about 60 physicians, and she captivated the audience. They were very attentive, they were hanging onto her words, she was just very profound, very sincere. She just did a very nice job. We sold all of her books. From a meeting planner's perspective, you've been great to work with, but also she's been a dream — very responsive, professional, approachable, down to earth. As a person I really enjoyed her. Thank you so much for the suggestion.
A major health insurance company:
Excellent. Dr. Ofri as the last speaker was perfectly planned! Thought the first and last presentations were excellent - great speaker to end with.
Dr. Ofri was truly fascinating and informative. Closing speaker perfect.
The quality of medical care is influenced by what doctors feel, an aspect of medicine that is usually left out of discussions of health care today. Drawing on scientific studies as well as real life stories from her own medical practice and other physicians, Dr. Danielle Ofri investigates the impact of emotions on medical care.
Contemporary media portrayals of doctors focus on the decision-making and medical techniques, reinforcing an image of rational, unflinching doctors. But while the challenges in medicine are unique, doctors respond with the same emotions as the rest of us — shame, anger, empathy, frustration, hope, pride, occasionally despair and sometimes even love.
With her renown eye for dramatic detail, Dr. Ofri takes us into swirling heart of patient care. She faces the humiliation of an error that nearly killed her patient and the forever fear of making another. She mourns when a long-time patient is denied a heart transplant. She tells the riveting stories of doctors who have faced the death of a newborn in their arms, and have faced the glare of lawyers in the courtroom.
Emotions have a distinct effect on a doctor's behavior and how they care for patients. For doctors, and especially for patients, understanding this can make all the difference in effective medicine.