House Calls: Doctors as Authors

Anton Chekhov was a playwright, Mikhail Bulgakov, a novelist, and William Carlos Williams, a poet. But in addition to their creative talents, all three were also trained, practicing physicians. As general practitioners they wrote insightful short stories about the medical and human needs of their neighbors. Their stories reveal the conditions under which their patients lived and worked, as well as their births, illnesses and deaths, all things attended to in their role as physician. Medical practice is about relationships and these stories reveal those relationships from the point of view of these brilliant, talented storytellers. We will read and discuss several stories by each of these authors, considering both the doctor at work and the conditions under which they worked. Join these doctors as they make house calls and tell stories with depth, directness, empathy and caring.