Over the last three years, we have shared work produced by participants in Duke University’s Documenting Medicine program in three end-of-year events, a number of exhibits, in national conferences (including the American Public Health Association, the international Narrative Medicine Conference, the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, the American Psychiatric Association and others) as well […]
Everyone knows that the Boomers are aging, and the older adult population is growing exponentially – that the 65 and up crowd will more than double by 2030, for example. Fewer people know that there are nowhere near enough geriatricians to care for them. Geriatricians are doctors specially trained in appreciating the full context of […]
The National Cancer Institute estimates that 13.7 million people with a history of cancer were alive in the United States in 2012. An additional 1.6 million people will be diagnosed in 2013. An estimated 1600 people die of cancer everyday. For those diagnosed, what was once a normal daily life focused on family, work or […]
Mental illness is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. An estimated 26 percent of Americans suffer from a mental disorder in a given year and about 6 percent suffer from a serious mental illness. According to the U.S. Surgeon Generals Report on Mental Health, almost two-thirds of people with diagnosed mental illness do […]
A brief brush with illness during my intern year led me to reevaluate the duality between physician and patient. I began to really wonder what it might be like to be a patient; to see the hospital from the inside out, to wear a gown and not a white coat, to ask permission rather than […]
Admissions, progress notes, discharge summaries, scribbled lab values, efficient rounds, and immaculately updated cross-cover lists. Intern year is stuffed with documentation and data. It doesn’t take long to feel that’s all that matters. However, behind the hypokalemia and midnight Tylenol orders are people and stories. Each piece of objective data matters, but each is like […]
Autism Spectrum Disorder or Pervasive Developmental Disorder now effects an estimated 1 in 55 children in the US. While there is a commonality in the symptomatology, the disorder effects it’s patients and their families in a variety of ways. In this project, we will look at one family’s perspective and experience of having a young […]
The death of an adult child is painful, pervasive and one that subverts natural order. Nearly 10% of parents above the age of 60 years face the death of an adult child. The bereaved elderly parent is often left faced with profound grief marked by changing dynamics in relationships, changes in world views, and further […]
Elder abuse was first described in the literature in the1970’s as granny battering and is simply defined as any harmful act towards an older adult. Elder abuse encompasses several types of abuse including physical, emotional, sexual, financial, neglect, and self-neglect. It is estimated that 1 to 2 million older adults living in the United States […]
The Duke’s Department of Community and Family Medicine was established in 1966 in the midst of the civil rights movement with an emphasis on health equity and a mission to improve the health of people in their communities. My documentary explores the links between the department’s early roots and the recent re-design of the Family […]
Over 175,000 children are diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year, but until recently childhood cancer in low/middle income countries has received little attention from researchers and health organizations. Barriers include concerns about the ability to diagnose and treat in areas with limited resources. However, regardless of the environment, many of the emotions and concerns that […]
Cancer treatment is incredibly expensive, and places a tremendous burden on patients–even those with insurance. The majority of bankruptcies in the United States are due to unpaid medical bills, and the rate of medical bankruptcies rapidly rises each year. Despite recent healthcare reform efforts, medical costs continue to disrupt the already difficult lives of cancer […]
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 […]
Marcela Gaviria survived a childhood cancer that nearly took her leg. She’s spent the last 30 years dealing with complications from that illness. And in all that time, she has stuck with the same doctor, Dempsey Springfield. Marcela and Dr. Springfield have lost count of just how many surgeries they’ve been through together. But when […]
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 […]
Aired March, 2000. Marc Delgado lives in Washington Heights, with his mother and his sister Candice, who is severely disabled. Candice was born with Trisomy 13 and doctors thought she would die before she was two, but somehow, she’s made it past her 13th birthday. Sadly, Candice passed away after the initial airing of Marc’s […]
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 […]
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 likely only a fraction of the true rate of injuries […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Half of high school students currently use addictive substances. One in eight high school students have a diagnosable clinical substance use disorder involving nicotine, alcohol or other drugs. Only six to eight percent of the total number of patients in need of treatment receive care. Adolescent and Child Psychiatry Chief Resident Jennifer Segura found herself […]
Growing up with a depressed parent takes its toll, reframing how you look at the world as a child. In 2007, Mike Bernstein recorded a moving dialogue between 12-year-old Cameron and his father, Bob. Four years later Mike returns, to discover a staggering story in Bob’s past. A rare insight into the anatomy of depression. […]
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. Its workers and volunteers often develop close personal relationships with their patients, exploring emotional, […]
About the Project Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and VII Photo present “Starved for Attention,” a multimedia campaign exposing the neglected and largely invisible crisis of childhood malnutrition. “Starved for Attention” aims to rewrite the story of malnutrition through a series of multimedia documentaries that seamlessly blend photography and video from some of the […]
A powerful multimedia piece by Maisie Crow about a young man with Prader-Willi Syndrome: http://vimeo.com/5717103
About The Project Twenty-one-year-old Laura Rothenberg has always tried to live a normal life, with lungs that often betray her, and the sober awareness that she may not live to see her 30th birthday. Rothenberg was born with cystic fibrosis, a chronic disease that affects the lungs and other organs. Most of the kids with CF […]
About the Website A diagnosis of a chronic disease, mental illness or condition can change one’s life in many ways. In Patient Voices, the New York Times feature first person accounts of the changes, challenges and rewards patients face as they cope with various health issues. As of March 12, 2011, the New York Times has […]
16-Year-Old Rocky Talks About Emotional Battle with Weight My struggle with obesity Samr “Rocky” Tayeh is 6 foot 1 and weighs 393 pounds. At 16 years old, he is dangerously overweight. Obesity is an epidemic in the United States, affecting toddlers, teens and adults alike. Rocky is a Palestinian American who lives with his parents […]
The Project The Waiting Room is a social media / documentary hybrid that tells the story of a county “safety-net” hospital in Oakland, California. To view, visit: http://www.whatruwaitingfor.com/about-the-waiting-room/about-the-community-engagement-project/ Taking advantage of the fact that hundreds of people sit and wait for hours each day in Highland Hospital alone, we will transform the waiting room into a storytelling […]
About the Website Since the early 1980s, AIDS has ravaged the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Nearly 30 million people have died. But over the past few years, aquiet global revolution has enabled millions of people infected by HIV to live healthy lives. In the early 1990s, when antiretroviral drugs became available, AIDS was […]
About the Audio Documentary Thembi was 19 when Producer Joe Richman first met her in 2004 in South Africa. From 2004 to 2005, she recorded her daily life, altogether capturing over 55 hours of content. Joe Richman worked with her to edit this down to 22 minutes. This piece was broadcast on National Public Radio […]
About the Audio Documentary We spend our entire lives setting up a sense of community. Jobs, families, homes, neighborhoods. But what happens in the twilight of our years? When old age forces us to make a change? When we pull up a lifetime of roots and settle into a new—and final —place? Presbyterian Homes is […]
About the Audio Piece Robert Patterson, who has Alzheimer’s disease, speaks with his wife, Karen on StoryCorps. To hear the 3-minute interview, visit: http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/robert-patterson-and-his-wife-karen/ Since 2006, StoryCorps’ Memory Loss Initiative has supported and encouraged people with various forms of memory loss to share their stories with loved ones and future generations. To date, the Memory Loss […]
About the website What is it like to live till 100? Eight men and women, aged 99 to 103, speak about their century of life. To view their stories, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/10/19/health/20101018-centenarians-voices-photos.html?ref=health This multimedia presentation accompanies the article “100 Candles on Her Next Cake, and Three R’s to Get Her There,” by Jane Brody for the New […]
Edwin Shneidman was not afraid of death. He studied it all his life. L.A. Times Photographer Liz Balen produced this 3-minute piece right before Schneidman passed away. To view, visit: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/ed_shneidmanff_ss,0,3414993.htmlstory
In this 8-minute piece, Duke Palliative Care Fellow Chris Jones explores why a Chaplain, a social worker, two nurses, and a nursing assistant were first attracted to this field and what keeps them there. With support from the Chancellor’s Innovation Fund, selected Duke Physician Residents and Fellows are provided the opportunity to work with documentarians […]
Duke University Emergency Room Nurses Brian Lupo and Jason Crockett produced this 17-minute podcast, Voices of Hope, as a way to learn about the role that hospice nurses play when patients approach the end of life. Like many, they wondered why nurses would choose to work in a setting in which all of their patients […]
The Graduate Medical Education Innovation Fund
The Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine
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