A Documentary Approach to Learning Patient Care
This is the third year in a pilot program at Duke University in which we mentor medical residents and fellows as they produce a documentary project about a patient or care-giver. All projects are shared in Grand Rounds talks, conferences, exhibits, lectures and other venues. In this five-minute video, Dr. Moses and Liisa Ogburn reflect [...]
Tough Times
For the last few years, I have been collecting a range of stories about motherhood and how the experience of motherhood changes us. I’ve been especially drawn to those stories which we often don’t hear. Stories that involve challenges, require growth and deepen wisdom. When we are inside these kinds of experiences, there’s nothing more [...]
Motherhood
Each year, about one in 33 babies (or 3 percent) is born with a serious birth defect (CDC, 2012). A much larger percentage will develop a serious condition or disorder before reaching the age of 18. One of the most common conditions—mental illness that significantly interferes with daily life—will affect 20 percent of American children [...]
Young Gunshot Victims
The United States is a world leader among developed countries in the number of civilian citizens who are killed or injured by guns each year. Every day an average of 32 Americans are killed by guns and more than 65 survive the physical and psychic damage of gunshot wounds. As a pediatrician, I have become [...]
Only a Kid
In Fall 2012, through her course “Documentary Engagement,” Ogburn paired Duke undergraduates and graduate students with girls between the ages of 10 and 17 enrolled in Duke’s Healthy Lifestyles program in order to collaboratively tell their stories using photography and audio. These girls had all been referred to Healthy Lifestyles by their pediatricians because they [...]
The Time of Our Lives: Living With Brain Cancer
The Time of Our Lives This documentary reveals how six individuals and their families are thinking about their lives and, more importantly, living their lives in the knowledge and context of having brain cancer. It tells patient stories through their own first person voices and a collection of still photographs taken on visits with them [...]
Surgery at the Margins: Understanding Pediatric Trauma
Pediatric trauma is the leading cause of death and disability among children 0-18, yet “critical deficiencies” in the treatment and prevention of childhood trauma have lead to a call for more research iniatives in this area. Although demographic data is available from large national trauma databases, the complex interplay of socioeconomic status, race, culture, and [...]
Surviving Cardiac Arrest: A Family’s Perspective on a Second Chance at Life
Cardiac arrest is a common cause of cardiovascular death claiming the lives of more than 380,000 Americans per year. Survival from cardiac arrest is very low. Here in North Carolina, only 12% of cardiac arrest victims survive. The ability to perform CPR rapidly is a critical first step to increasing the chances for survival. Unfortunately, [...]
Beyond the Exam Room:
Nearly a century after the birth of American pediatrics as a specialty, the health of children has improved dramatically. Despite advances in vaccination, education and legislative measures to protect maternal and child health, there exist persistent barriers to childrens’ health. Abraham Jacobi, the father of American pediatrics, charged pediatricians to advance the field with broad-reaching, [...]
En Sus Zapatos: Serving the Hispanic Populations: Challenges of the Primary Care Doctor
As a rising third year resident in the Family and Community Medicine Program, and as a native Spanish speaker and immigrant from Puerto Rico, at least 30% of the patients I see are Latino. In North Carolina, Hispanics account for more than 63% of the population growth in the last years. Working in primary care [...]
The Holding Environment: Photographs of Psychotherapy Rooms
Within medicine today, patients receive care in doctors’ offices, clinics and hospitals. Typically these rooms are staid, predictable and interchangeable. An examination room in a North Carolina hospital or clinic probably appears quite similar to an examination room in a hospital or clinic in New York, South Dakota or Texas. Where this model departs is [...]
The Radiologist’s Role in Medical Care
Radiology is a medical specialty often misunderstood by practitioners in the medical community and patients alike. There is a certain mystery attached to radiology and as a result our patients may not have a clear understanding of the role radiologists play in their care. I wanted to create a video to serve as a quick [...]
Assisted Infection: The Impact of a Hepatitis B Outbreak at an Assisted Living Facility in North Carolina
Infection control problems during assisted monitoring of blood glucose at an assisted living facility in North Carolina resulted in an outbreak of hepatitis B virus infections. Among the 40 facility residents who were susceptible to infection from hepatitis B virus, eight residents developed acute infections, and six of those died from hepatitis complications. All eight [...]
Delirium’s Impact
Delirium is a clinical syndrome characterized by an acute change in mental status or sudden confusion with inattention as the hallmark feature. It is often the first presenting sign of illness in older adults. Delirium is the most common hospital complication in the elderly and is associated with poor patient outcomes, including increased need for [...]
Work-Related: A Coal Miner’s Story
Work-related: A Coal Miner’s Story from Liisa Ogburn on Vimeo. Workplace injuries are common and lead to chronic health problems, death, and significant financial and social costs. For every 100 full-time positions, employees suffered 3.6 cases of nonfatal, recordable injuries or illnesses in 2009 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). However, by most estimates, this is [...]
Exploring Postpartum Patient Satisfaction Among Spanish-Speaking Mothers: An Audio Documentary
Exploring Postpartum Patient Satisfaction Among Spanish-Speaking Mothers: An Audio Documentary from Liisa Ogburn on Vimeo. Postpartum satisfaction surveys are an important patient-reported indicator of healthcare quality and patient response to such surveys may impact hospital reimbursement in the near future. Identifying barriers to participation is a key element to improving healthcare quality assessment and serving [...]
Documenting Medicine: A Day in the Life of a Patient
This two-day intensive is designed for people with little documentary experience who are interested in using photography and audio to tell the story of a person with a serious medical condition. Students will see examples of relevant work, learn the fundamentals of capturing good quality sound and images, discuss the ethics and constraints of documenting [...]
Life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: One Mother’s Story
Premature births—those that occur before 37 weeks of gestation—are associated with one-third of all infant deaths and account for nearly 45 percent of children with cerebral palsy, 35 percent of children with vision impairment, and 25 percent of children with cognitive or hearing impairment. In the United States, more than half a million babies are [...]
Hospice
This year, about 2.5 million Americans will die. About 900,000 of them, or three in ten, will get hospice care in their last weeks or months. Hospice is specialized care for terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. It offers a way in which family, doctors, nurses, pastors, and the community can [...]
Documenting Medicine
Duke University Medical Center and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke are partnering on an effort to use documentary to explore medical issues. To view work produced by people at Duke, click on projects to the left. To see additional documentary work, click on the categories below.
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A Documentary Approach to Learning Patient Care
This is the third year in a pilot program at Duke University in which we mentor medical residents and fellows as they produce a documentary project about a patient or care-giver. All projects are shared in Grand Rounds talks, conferences, exhibits, lectures and other venues. In this five-minute video, Dr. Moses and Liisa Ogburn reflect [...]
The Graduate Medical Education Innovation Fund
The Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine