MICHELE HARPER: (Reading) I am the doctor whose palms bolster the head of the 20-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his brain. At some point, I heard screaming from her room. Sign up on Eventbrite. She just sat there. All rights reserved. She is an emergency medicine physician who has written a new memoir about her life and experiences. And I don't know whether or not he took drugs. My being there with them in the moment did force me to be honest with myself about - that's why it was so painful for the marriage to end. So not only had they done all this violation, but then they were trying to take away her livelihood as well. The constant in Dr. Harper's reflection on these patients is the importance of connection, the importance of asking the hard . Harper, who has worked as an ER physician for more than a decade, said she found her own life broken when she began writing The Beauty in the Breaking. Her marriage had ended, and she had moved to Philadelphia to begin a new job. She has a new memoir about her experiences called "The Beauty In Breaking." And so it was a long conversation about her experiences because for me in that moment, I - and why I stayed was it was important for me to hear her. During our first virtual event of 2021, the ER doctor and best-selling author shared what it means to breakand to healon the frontlines of medicine. And in that story and after - when I went home and cried, that was a moment where that experience allowed me to be honest. I don't know what happened to her afterwards. You grew up in an affluent family in what you describe as some exclusive neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. You went to private school. For me, school was a refuge. So I hope that that's what we're embarking on. Michele Harper: Processing what she saw in and out of the ER. She writes about the incident so we always remember that beneath the most superficial layer of our skin, we are all the same. It's many people. Their specialties include Obstetrics & Gynecology. I mean, of course, if they're admitted to the hospital, we can - we usually get follow-up. The Beauty In Breaking by Michele Harper, 9780525537397, available . And usually, it's safe. And there was no pneumonia. And I thought back to her liver function studies, and I thought, well, they can be elevated because of trauma. And I remember one time when he was protecting my mother - and so I ended up fighting with my father - how my father, when my brother had him pinned to the ground, bit my brother's thumb. And he apologized because he said that unfortunately, this is what always happens in this hospital - that the hospital won't promote women or people of color. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I am famously bad at social media. I ran to the room. It's 11 a.m., and Michele Harper has just come off working a string of three late shifts at an emergency room in Trenton, N.J. . [Read an excerpt from The Beauty in Breaking. ]. And it's the end of my shift. Though we both live in the same area, COVID-19 kept us from meeting in a studio. I support the baby as she takes her first breath outside her mothers womb.. As an African American emergency room physician currently working in New Jersey, Dr. Michele Harper has not only been forced to constantly prove herself to her colleagues, patients and supervisors, but she has also been compelled to take a stand for people of color and women who are often undermined by the medical community. Recorded in Miami and Philadelphia. Michele Harper. After a childhood in Washington, D.C., she studied at Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. And in reflecting on their relationship, you write, (reading) it's strange how often police officers frequently find the wackadoos (ph). She was just trying to get help because she was assaulted. And the police did show up. We have to examine why this is happening. Michele Harper An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself. Angelina Jolie 's ex-girlfriend Jenny Shimizu also got married recently, tying the knot last week to socialite Michelle Harper. Summary. Original release. It's emotionally taxing. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. HARPER: Yes. We want to know if the patient's OK, if they made it. You were the attending person who was actually her supervisor, but she thought she could take this into her own hands. What that means is patients will often come in - VA or otherwise, they'll come in for some medical documentation that medically, they're OK to then go on to a sober house or a mental health care facility. My trainee, the resident, was white. Situations, experiences, can break us in ways that if we make another set of decisions, we won't heal or may even perpetuate violence. If we had more people in medicine from poor or otherwise disenfranchised backgrounds, we would have better physicians, physicians who could empathize more. I'm the one who ends up standing up for them. ABOUT THE PROVIDER. And I told the police that not only was that request unethical and unprofessional, it's also illegal. Her physical exam was fine. April 12, 2014. It was a gift that they gave me that, then, yes, allowed me to heal in ways that weren't previously possible. If you have a question for her, please leave it in the comments and she may respond then. And in this case, the resident, who kind of tried to go over your head to the hospital, was a white person. ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities. You want to just describe what happened here? And is it especially difficult working in these hospitals where we don't have enough resources for patients, where a lot of the patients have to work multiple jobs because there isn't a living wage and we're their safety net and their home medically because they don't have access to health care? But there has to be that agreement and understanding or nothing will be done about it. We're speaking with Dr. Michele Harper. Michele Harper is a female African American emergency room physician in an overwhelmingly male and white profession. But Harper isn't just telling war stories in her book. So the only difference with Dominic was he was a person considered not to have rights. I love the discussion. HARPER: That's a great question, and I am glad we're having the conversations and that there is space for the conversations. I mean, was it difficult? . She received her medical degree from Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and has . They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told her he couldn . I could wrap this up in 10 minutes, and then I could go home. It wasnt easy. And I didn't get the job. She's a graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at . In one chapter, she advocates for a Black man who has been brought in in handcuffs by white police officers and refuses an examination a constitutional right that Harper honors despite a co-worker calling a representative from the hospitals ethics office to report her. I'm hoping that we will. I mean, I've literally had patients who are having heart attacks - and these are cases where we know, medically, for a fact, they are at risk of significant injury or death, where it's documented - I mean, much clearer cut than the case we just discussed, and they have the right - if they are competent, they have the right to sign themselves out of the department and refuse care. She is an emergency room physician, and she has a new memoir about her experiences. Welcome to Group Text, a monthly column for readers and book clubs about the novels, memoirs and short-story collections that make you want to talk, ask questions, and dwell in another world for a little bit longer. And so we're all just bracing to see what happens this fall. Sep 28. She now works at Virginia Warren County Veterinary Clinic. Then along the way, undergrad, medical school, that was no longer a refuge. Theres a newborn who isnt breathing; a repeat visitor whose chart includes a violent behavior alert; a veteran who opens up about what shes survived; an older man who receives a grim diagnosis with grace and humor. The patient, medically, was fine. The Beauty in Breaking is a journey of a thousand judgment calls, including some lighter moments. And my emergency medicine director was explaining that even though there was no other candidate and I was the only one who applied, they decided to leave it open. He is affiliated with medical facilities Baptist Health Floyd and Clark Memorial Health. It was important for me to see her. I was the one to take a stand, to see if she was okay and to ask him to leave the room because she didn't feel safe, and she wasn't under arrest. In another passage, Harper recounts an incident in which a patient unexpectedly turns violent and attacks her during an examination. It's yet to be seen, but I am hopeful. Nobody went to check on her. So I did ask, and she told me what she had been through in the military was her supervisor and then her colleague raping her. Somebody who is of sound mind and medically competent is allowed to make their own decisions, whether or not we agree with them, because we have to respect patient autonomy and patient wishes. This conversation with ER doctor Michele Harper will cover many of the lessons she's learned on her inspiring personal journey and the success of her New York Times-bestselling memoir, The Beauty in Breaking. And you're right. It's a clinical determination. As an effective ER physician, br. This is FRESH AIR. HARPER: Yes. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told . HARPER: So she was there for medical clearance. Well, as the results came back one by one, they were elevated. There are limitations in hirings and promotions. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Dr. Michele Harper about her new memoir, The Beauty in Breaking. Of course, if somebody comes in mentally altered, intoxicated, a child, it's - there's different criteria where they can't make decisions on their own that would put their life in jeopardy. I mean, I ended up helping my brother get care for that wound. And your mother eventually remarried. This will be a lifetime work, though. Be it Mr. Spano, my ex-husband, my . But I was really concerned that this child had been beaten and was having traumatic brain injury and that's why she wasn't waking up. And it was impetus for me to act because it's one thing to realize. When I left the room, I found out that the police officer had said that he was going to try to arrest me for interfering with his investigation. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, I read books from across the U.S. to understand our divided nation. She looked well, just stuporous. As a Black woman, I navigate an American landscape that claims to be postracial when every waking moment reveals the contrary, Michele Harper writes. HARPER: Yes. Theres no easy answer to this question. Even before writing her powerful, exquisitely written memoir about the healing of self and others, the extraordinary Dr. Michele Harper was noteworthy: she is among the mere 2% of doctors working in America today who are Black women. She really didn't know anything about medicine. For example: at hospitals in big cities, why doesnt the staff reflect the diversity of its community? Of the doctors and nurses on duty, I was the only Black person. One of the gifts of her literary journey, she says, are the conversations she is having across the country and around the world about healthcare. Fashionista and businesswoman who is known for her eccentric dress style and public appearances. Michele D. Thomas, MD Colon & Rectal Surgery. And my brother, who was older than me by about 8 1/2 years - he's older than me. . She spoke to me via an Internet connection from her home. So in trying to cope and trying to figure out what to do, she started drinking, and that's why we're seeing her getting sober. And we use the same one. It was crying out for help, and the liver test was kind of an intuition on your part. She remained stuporous. I recently had a patient, a young woman who was assaulted. It doesnt have to be this way of course. And when I got follow-up on the case later, that's exactly what had happened. Harper shares her poignant stories from the ER with Mitchell Kaplan. And it felt dangerous. And you write that while you knew violence at home as a kid, you know, you didn't grow up where - in a world where there was danger getting to school or in the neighborhood. Dr. Michele Krohn-Harper is a Chiropractic Physician and Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist with a practice in Dublin, Ohio, since 1996. Michele's husband, Dr. Martin MacNeill, had withheld decades of secrets from his family - from mistresses and falsified transcripts to a hidden felony conviction - a history that bolstered the . She went on to attend Harvard, where she met her husband. It is not graphic, but it is in some respects troubling. And I did find out shortly after - not soon after I left, there was a white male nurse who applied and got the position. And I should just note again for listeners that there's some content here that might be disturbing. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. They stayed together . Nobody answered. I'm always more appreciated in the community and even within hospital systems. I mean, mainly we get that to make sure there's no infection causing the fever. Clinically, all along the way - I prefer clinically to work in environments that are lower-resourced financially, immigrant, underrepresented people of color. Join us for an enlightening discussion with Dr. Michele Harper as she highlights the lessons learned on her inspiring personal journey of discovery and . And one of the reasons I spoke about this case is because one may think, OK, well, maybe it's not clear cut medically, but it really is. Dr. The N95s we use, there's been a recycling program. I mean, did you worry at all that there's a chance he might have actually taken the drugs and that he could be in danger from not getting treated? Whether you have read The Beauty in Breaking or not there are important lessons in self-healing to take . In this summer of protest and pain, perhaps most telling is Harpers encounter with a handcuffed Black man brought into the emergency room by four white police officers (like rolling in military tanks to secure a small-town demonstration). She received her medical degree from Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine and.. 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