This book was inspired by Karen Wolk Feinstein, president and CEO of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation. Dedicated to supporting health care services, education, and research to encourage medical advancement and protect vulnerable populations, the JHF has generously supported this and other projects, working with me and Creative Nonfiction, the magazine I edit, in the form not only of grants but also of friendship and encouragement.
Becoming a Doctor is the first in a new series of medical narrative books supported by the JHF. I hope that the essays collected here help demonstrate the awesome challenges and frustrations facing the medical community, especially doctors, who must too often fight systems that impede patient care. More than that, I hope this book is a valuable addition to the health care debate in this country, and that the stories collected here might have an impact, and help bring about changes that are needed if not just any of us, but all of us, are to receive quality care. This book is a product of Dr. Feinstein’s vision, which, along with support from the foundation she leads, made my work as editor and the work of the writers in this book possible. On behalf of the writers and staff at Creative Nonfiction who worked on Becoming a Doctor, I would like to thank Karen Wolk Feinstein and her colleagues at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation—particularly Nancy Zionts and Carla Barricella—not only for their insight, inspiration, and support but also for their faith in the power of true stories and bold voices.
I would also like to thank attorney Melissa Irr Harkes for her thorough and conscientious legal vetting and writer/editor Donna Hogarty for fact-checking this manuscript; Amy Cherry, our editor at W. W. Norton, and Andrew Blauner, our longtime agent and friend, for their wisdom and support; the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, whose ongoing support has been essential to the Creative Nonfiction Foundation’s success; and Hattie Fletcher, managing editor of Creative Nonfiction, who is a skillful editor and eminently reliable sounding board, and the glue that keeps CNF together.
Last but not least, Stephen Knezovich, associate editor of Creative Nonfiction, worked closely with me and with all of the writers from the very beginning of this project, providing regular communication, feedback, advice, and solid editorial counsel. His contribution has been invaluable.
DISCLAIMER
Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the identities of people and institutions mentioned in these essays.