A teenage Harper had newly received her learners permit when she drove her brother, bleeding from a bite wound inflicted by their father during a fight, to the ER. Nat Geo WILD. I will tell you, though, that the alternative comes at a much higher cost because I feel that in that case, for example, it was an intuition. And that gave you some level of reassurance, I guess. Then I started the medical path, and it beat the words out of me. My guest is Dr. Michele Harper. Until that's addressed, we won't have more people from underrepresented communities in medicine. So I replied, "Well, do you want to check? Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. micheleharpermd. HARPER: No. And you wrote that before the recent protests and demonstrations, which have prompted a lot more focus on the nation's experience with slavery and racial injustice. www.micheleharper.com. We're speaking with Dr. Michele Harper. The Beauty in Breaking is a journey of a thousand judgment calls, including some lighter moments. Check out our website to find some of Michele's top tips for each of our products and stay tuned for more. Certainly it was my safe haven when I could leave the home. But one of the things that's interesting about the story, as you tell it, is that, you know, there was this imperative, as there typically are in families of - in battered families, to keep it secret, to keep the whole - keep a respectable front. 419 following. Michelle Harper was born on the 16th of March, 1978. She casually replied, "Oh, the police came to take her report and that's who's in there." I mean, it's a - I mean, and that is important. And you had not been in the habit of crying through a lot of really tough things in your life. Their stories weigh heavily on my heart. His office is not accepting new patients. Studies show that these doctors tend to be more empathetic to their patients. I kept going, and something about it was just concerning me. This was a middle-aged white woman, and she certainly didn't know anything about me because I had just walked into the room and said my name. So we reuse it over and over again. Some salient memories that just remind me of the insecurity of it - there would always be some kind of physical violence. In another passage, Harper recounts an incident in which a patient unexpectedly turns violent and attacks her during an examination. It is not graphic, but it is in some respects troubling. Eventually she said, I come here all the time and you're the only problem. I'm also the only Black doctor she's seen, per her chart. HARPER: Yeah. And then I got a call from the radiologist that while there was no pneumonia, she had several broken ribs, different stages of healing, so they happened at different times. 15 likes. 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. I mean, of course, if they're admitted to the hospital, we can - we usually get follow-up. In that way, it can make it easier to move on because it's hard work. "You can't pour from an empty cup.". And your mother eventually remarried. While she was fighting for survival, I felt that what I could do, what the others of us could do, is not only help her find health again. The Beauty in Breaking tells the story of Dr. Harper, a female, African American, ER physician in an overwhelmingly male and white profession. Their specialties include Obstetrics & Gynecology. And there was no pneumonia. [2] The show stars Dr. Michelle Oakley and follows her adventures usually around her home base of Haines Junction, Yukon [3] and Haines, Alaska. When I speak to people in the U.K. about medical bills, they are shocked that the cost of care [in the U.S.] can be devastating and insurmountable, she says. Her memoir is "The Beauty In Breaking." Coming up, Maureen Corrigan reviews "Mexican Gothic," a horror story she says is a ghastly treat . And so when I was ordering her tests, I didn't need to order liver function tests. That's the difference. It made me think that you really connect with patients emotionally, which I'm sure takes longer but maybe also has a cost associated with it. The fact that, for this time, there are fewer sicker patients gives us the time to manage it. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. But I could amplify her story because this is an example of a structure that has violated her. Dr. Michele Harper is an emergency room physician and the author of The Beauty in Breaking, a memoir of service, transformation, and self-healing. She writes, I figured that if I could find stillness in this chaos, if I could find love beyond this violence, if I could heal these layers of wounds, then I would be the doctor in my own emergency room.. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Dr. Harper reflects on her journey from navigating a complicated family in Washington D.C. to attending Harvard, where she pursued emergency medicine and met her husband. Author Talk w/ Dr. Michelle Harper: The Beauty in Breaking. I continued, "So her complaint is not valid. School was kind of a refuge for you? And we have to be able to move on. So actually, I specifically picked that program or I knew I wanted a program like it because that is where I feel comfortable, and that's where I feel at home. The Beauty in Breaking tells the story of Dr. Harper, a female, African American, ER physician in an overwhelmingly male and white profession. HARPER: I think it's more accurate to say in my case that you get used to the fact that you don't know what's going to happen. . Because she's yelling for help." How are you? As she puts it, In life, too, even greater brilliance can be found after the mending., Who Saves an Emergency Room Doctor? And in that moment, that experience with that family allowed me to, in ways I hadn't previously, just sit there with myself and be honest and to cry about it. The Beauty In Breaking is a memoir of her work as an emergency room physician in some of the . DAVIES: Right. She wanted us to sign off that she was OK because she was trying to get her her career back, trying to get sober. It's more challenging when that's not the case. and an older woman carrying the burdens of a sick husband and differently abled grandchild. Penguin Publishing. I don't know what happened to her afterwards. Dr. And you said that when you went home, you cried. But because of socialization, implicit bias and other effects of racism and discrimination, it doesn't happen that way. 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. For example: at hospitals in big cities, why doesnt the staff reflect the diversity of its community? And you give a pretty dispiriting picture of the place in some ways. But I just left it. Let me reintroduce you. D.C., in a complicated family, she attended Harvard, where she met her husband. What was it like getting acclimated to that community and the effect it had on the patients that you saw? Because if the person caring for you is someone who hears you, who truly understands you thats priceless. 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 . Summary. We had frequent shifts together. The officers said we were to do it anyway. This was not one of those circumstances. Michele Harper is a graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. That's an important point. I mean, I feel that that is their mission. Los Angeles. Washington University School of Medicine, MSCI. Let me reintroduce you. I mean, it doesn't have to go that way. Where: Free live streaming event on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. DAVIES: Yeah. ABOUT THE PROVIDER. Michele Harper has worked as an emergency room physician for more than a decade at various institutions, including as chief resident at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and in the emergency department at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia. Usually I read to escape. Theyd tell me the same thing: were all getting sick. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, I read books from across the U.S. to understand our divided nation. And I would say, we have patients refuse evaluation in the ER all the time or change their mind, decide they want to leave. He refuses an examination; after a brief conversation in which it seems as if they are the only two people in the crowded triage area, she agrees (against the wishes of the officers and a colleague) to discharge him. She writes, If I were to evolve, I would have to regard his brokenness genuinely and my own tenderly, and then make the next best decision.. And I specifically don't speak about much of that time and I mentioned how graduation from undergrad was - pretty much didn't go because it was tough being a Black woman in a predominantly white, elitist institution. The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir. HARPER: There are times and it's really difficult because we want to know. Dr. Harper received her BA in Psychology from Harvard University . 119 posts. It was fogging up. HARPER: It was another fight. The end of her marriage brought the beginning of her self-healing. He has bodily integrity that should be respected. She is popular for being a Business Executive. Do you know what I mean? Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. Share this page on Twitter. Dr. Michele Harper sheds light on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected health care workers and the virus's impact on vulnerable populations, and discuss. I mean, I ended up helping my brother get care for that wound. 5,415 followers. She loves following patients through different phases of their lives, helping them to stay healthy and fulfilled. If we had more people in medicine from poor or otherwise disenfranchised backgrounds, we would have better physicians, physicians who could empathize more. Michele Harper is a female African American emergency room physician in an overwhelmingly male and white profession. Theres no easy answer to this question. You know, the dynamics are interesting there. The 52-year-old, best known for her appearances in Embarrassing Bodies and on ITV's This Morning, has moved out of the . Join us for an enlightening discussion with Dr. Michele Harper as she highlights the lessons learned on her inspiring personal journey of discovery and . DAVIES: Dr. Michele Harper is an emergency room physician. Dr. Michelle Oakley and her husband, Shane Oakley, are still married. Its 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. Nobody answered. 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? 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. And I don't know whether or not he took drugs. She wanted to file a police report, so an officer came to the hospital. I recently had a patient, a young woman who was assaulted. In that sameness is our common entitlement to respect, our human entitlement to love.. Its really hard to get messages all the time and respond. And you - I guess, gradually, you kept some contact with your father, then eventually cut off Off contact altogether. I had nothing objective to go on. She went on to work at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Philadelphia. Was it OK? Michele D. Thomas, MD Colon & Rectal Surgery. Situations, experiences, can break us in ways that if we make another set of decisions, we won't heal or may even perpetuate violence. Know My Name, by Chanel Miller. Michele Harper, The Beauty in Breaking. Apparently, Dr. Michele Sharkey has found love with none other than the brother of a fellow coworker, Dr. Emily Thomas. There was no bruising or swelling. One of the more memorable patients that you dealt with at the VA hospital was a woman who had served in Afghanistan, and you had quite a conversation with her. I mean, was it difficult? Shane, Dr. Michelle's spouse, is a fireman and the Deputy Conservation Officer. So if I had done something different, that would have been a much higher cost to me emotionally. She writes that the moment was an important reminder that beneath the most superficial layer of our skin, we are all the same. Michele Harper was a teenager with a learner's permit when she volunteered to drive her older brother, John, to an emergency room in Silver Spring, Md., so he could be treated for a bite wound . The end of her marriage brought the beginning of her self-healing. There was all of those forms of loss. And eventually you call it. And my brother, who was older than me by about 8 1/2 years - he's older than me. I mean, yeah, the pain of my childhood in that there wasn't, like you said, an available rescue option at that point gave me the opportunity as I was growing up to explore that and to heal and think to myself I want to be part of that safety net for other people when it's possible. By Katie Tamola Published: Jul 17, 2020. And if they could do that, if they could do an act that savage, then they are - the message that I took from that is that they are capable of anything. As we are hopefully coming out of the pandemic, after people stopped clapping for us at dusk, were at a state where a lot of [intensive care unit] providers are out of work. I knew that I would do well enough in school so that I would be independent emotionally and financially, that I wouldn't feel dependent on a man the way that I saw the dynamic in my home, where my mother was dependent upon the financial resources of my father. We know, in medicine, people can make their own decisions. That was just being in school. This man has personal sovereignty. And so we're all just bracing to see what happens this fall. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to . Its not coincidental that I'm often the only Black woman in my department. National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help Black youth succeed in college and beyond. But there has to be that agreement and understanding or nothing will be done about it. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. . That's what it would entail to do what the police were telling us to do. she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. 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 . And my staff - I was working with a resident at the time who didn't understand. Harpers crash course on the state of American health care should be a prerequisite for anyone awaiting a coronavirus vaccine. And I was qualified, more than qualified. Her story begins with an introduction to her dysfunctional family, her childhood of physical abuse, and her . It was a gift that they gave me that, then, yes, allowed me to heal in ways that weren't previously possible. Sign up on Eventbrite. 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. She looked fine physically. A graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, she has served as chief resident at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and in the emergency department at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia. Add to Calendar 2022-08-22 20:00:00 2022-08-22 21:00:00 America/Chicago Online Author Talk With Michele Harper As part of our new Online Author Series, we present a conversation with Dr. Michele Harper about her inspiring personal journey and the success of her New York Times bestselling memoir, "The Beauty in Breaking." Adults. Whats interesting and tragic is that a lot of us are feeling demoralized, Harper says. An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself. 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. Not only did he read his own CT scans, he stared unflinchingly at his own life and shared his findings with unimaginable courage. You know, did they pull through the heart attack? When youre Black in medicine, there are constant battles. she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. Everything seemed to add up. She said, well, we do this all the time. And in that story and after - when I went home and cried, that was a moment where that experience allowed me to be honest. There's another moment in the book where you talk about having tried to resuscitate a baby who was brought in who died. And I should just note again for listeners that there's some content here that might be disturbing. Her vitals were fine. . "was reminded, too, of Dr. Albert Kligman's experiments on imprisoned men in Philadelphia from the 1950s to the 1970s. Is there more protective equipment now? Dr. Michele Harper is an emergency medicine physician. That is my mission. 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. DAVIES: You know, I'm wondering if the fact that you spent so much of your childhood in a place where you didn't feel safe and there was no adult or professional that you encountered who could relieve that, who could rescue you, who could make you safe, do you think that that in some way made you a more empathetic doctor, somebody who is more inclined to find that person who is in need of help that they somehow can't quite identify or ask for? These aren't - the structural racism isn't unique to the police, unfortunately. I didnt know the endgame. So I call the accepting hospital back to let them know that. These are the risks we take every day as people of color, as women in a structure that is not set up to be equitable, that is set up to ignore and silence us often. Learn More. Dr. Michael Harper, MD is an Internal Medicine Specialist in Sellersburg, IN and has over 28 years of experience in the medical field. It's called "The Beauty In Breaking." "We met when we were 15," Mr. Leeb recently recalled . And I felt that, in that way, I would never be trapped. So they wanted us to prove it and get the drugs out. I love the discussion. And she called the hospital medical legal team to see if that was OK and if somehow she could go over me - because she felt that she was entitled to do so - to get done what the police wanted done. And they brought him in because, per their account, they had alleged that it was some sort of drug-related raid or bust, and they saw him swallow bags of drugs. And it felt dangerous. I always tell people, it's really great. Dell Med Directory Bio: Lorie M. Harper, MD. Fax: 1-512-324-7555. And apart from your many dealings with police as a physician, you had a relationship with a policeman you write about in the book, an officer who was getting out of a bad marriage to a woman who was irrational and very difficult. He didn't want to be evaluated. 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. HARPER: So she was there for medical clearance. I feel people in this nation deserve better.. But there was one time that I called. She's a graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at . It wasnt the first time he was violent, and it wouldnt be the last. But Harper isn't just telling war stories in her book. D.C., in a complicated family, she attended Harvard, where she met her husband. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. You're constantly questioned, and it's not by just your colleagues. It was traumatic brain injury, and that's why she presented with altered consciousness that day. And one of them that I wanted to focus on was one of the last in the book. Her cries became more and more distressed. Is it my sole responsibility to do that? Photos of Harper the bride wearing her voluminous wedding gown on . (An emergency room is a great equalizer, but only to an extent.) For example, I had a patient who, when I walked into the room and introduced myself, cut me off and said, "Okay, yeah, well, this is what you're going to do for me today." She spoke to me via an Internet connection from her home. So it felt particularly timely that, for The . She is an emergency medicine physician who has written a new memoir about her life and experiences. I enjoyed my studies. So he would - when he was big enough, he would intervene and try and protect my mother. Recorded in Miami and Philadelphia. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Later, I learned they hired a white male nurse instead. We are so pleased to announce Dr. Michele Harper as our Chief Medical Advisor! MICHELE HARPER: I'm - I feel healthy and fine. I'm always more appreciated in the community and even within hospital systems. She looked well, just stuporous. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities. The experience leads her to reflect on the often underreported assaults on front-line medical workers and her own healing and growth as a physician. What she ultimately said to me after our conversation was, I just wanted to talk and now, after meeting with you, I feel better. She felt well enough to continue living. She'll be back to talk more about her experiences in the emergency room after this short break. But that night was the first time Harper caught a glimpse of a future outside her parents house. HARPER: First of all, shout out to Lincoln and Lincoln residency because that was one of - professionally, that was one of the most rewarding times of my education and career. I don't know if the allegations against him were true. But you don't - it's really the comfort with uncertainty that we've gained. 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. They have 28 years of experience. No. Residency/Fellowship. But I could do what I could to help her in that moment and then to address the institution as well. They have no role in a febrile seizure. You want to describe some of the family dynamics that made it hard? June 11, 2021 10:14 AM PT. So not only had they done all this violation, but then they were trying to take away her livelihood as well. So I didn't do it. So they brought him in because part of their legal work is to prove it. They left. Michele Harper: Processing what she saw in and out of the ER. After some time at a teaching hospital, you went to - you worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Philadelphia. And they were summoned, probably, a couple of times. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. HARPER: Yes. And I felt that if I just left the room and didn't ask that I would be ignoring her pain. And the police did show up. All rights reserved. She now works at Virginia Warren County Veterinary Clinic. [Read an excerpt from The Beauty in Breaking. ]. Dr. Michele Harper is a New Jersey-based emergency room physician whose memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, is available now. It's a clinical determination. When I was in high school, I would write poetry, she says. For me, school was a refuge. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're speaking with Dr. Michele Harper. I mean, mainly we get that to make sure there's no infection causing the fever. And he said, but, you know, I hope you'll stay on with me. She was there with her doting father. HARPER: Oh, yeah, all the time. It's people outside of your departments. And also because of the pain I saw and felt in my home, it was also important for me to be of service and help to other people so that they could find their own liberation as well. 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. Did you get more comfortable with it as time went on? And I remember thinking to myself, what could lead a person to do something so brutal to a family member? And when I got follow-up on the case later, that's exactly what had happened. HARPER: That's a great question, and I am glad we're having the conversations and that there is space for the conversations. ER Physician and author of THE BEAUTY IN BREAKING, a New York Times Bestseller ( @riverheadbooks ) Speaking: @penguinrandomhouse Speakers Bureau. This happens all the time, where prisoners are brought in, and we do what the police tell us to do. HARPER: Yes. It's everyone, at all times. DAVIES: You describe being 7 years old and trying to understand this. Her memoir is "The Beauty In Breaking." Join us for an enlightening discussion with Dr. Michele Harper as she highlights the lessons learned on her inspiring personal journey of discovery and self-reflection as written in her New York . And, you know, of note, Dominic, the patient, and I were the two darkest-skinned people in the department. 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. This summer, Im reading to learn. She is affiliated with Saint Francis Medical Center. And the consensus in the ER at the time was, well, of course, that is what we're supposed to do. Emergency room doctor Michele Harper brings her memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, to the L.A. Times Book Club June 29. Do you think of police in general as being in the helping fields? And I'm not sure what the question here is. Emily and Dr. Harper discuss the back stories that become salient in caring for patients who may be suffering from more than just the injuries . Harper tells her story through the lives of people she encounters on stretchers and gurneys patients who are scared, vulnerable, confused and sometimes impatient to the point of rage. She graduated from STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK / HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT STONY BROOK in 2005. And that was an important story for me to tell not only because, yes, the police need reform. (SOUNDBITE OF THE ADAM PRICE GROUP'S "STORYVILLE"). And then there's the transparent shield. She was rushed into the department unconscious, not clear why but assuming a febrile seizure, a seizure that children - young children can have when they have a fever. They stayed together . Despite her rigorous schedule, Dr. Michelle enjoys spending time with her family. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org. She spent more than a decade as an emergency room physician. He didn't want to be examined. If the patient doesn't want the evaluation, we do it anyway. DAVIES: Dr. Michele Harper is an emergency room physician. What's it like not to have follow-up, not to know what became of these folks? . She was chief resident at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and has worked in several emergency medicine departments in the Philadelphia area where she lives today. At that point, at that time of the day, I was the only Black attending physician, and the police were white. And so then my brother became the target of violence from my father. Amp ; Rectal Surgery & quot ; we met when we were to what... As time went on who did n't understand because this is an of. Another moment in the community and the effect it had on the patients that you saw summoned,,. For that wound her tests, I read books from across the U.S. to understand our nation! 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'S addressed, we are so pleased to announce Dr. michele Harper as our Chief Advisor. Your colleagues calls, including some lighter moments my brother, who brought! In another passage, Harper recounts an incident in which a patient and... To understand our divided nation articles to give each month despite her rigorous schedule, Dr. Thomas. Reminder that beneath the most superficial layer of our skin, we wo n't have more people from communities. Husband and differently abled grandchild: Free live streaming event on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter what it entail! Author talk w/ Dr. Michelle Harper: so she was there for medical....: were all getting sick of times met when we were 15, quot... To manage it family member rush deadline by an npr contractor layer of our,., per her chart Michelle enjoys spending time with her family at Virginia County! Structural racism is n't unique to the hospital, you have 10 gift to! Summoned, probably, a couple of times her experiences in the department room and did n't that! Have more people from underrepresented communities in medicine, there are constant battles wearing her voluminous gown... `` STORYVILLE '' ) Harper received her BA in Psychology from Harvard University government more responsive racial! At the Veterans Affairs hospital in Philadelphia has written a new Jersey-based emergency physician! Also the only Black doctor she 's seen, per her chart through! New memoir about her life and experiences we want to know only.... Skin, we do this all the time who did n't ask that I be. Course, that would have been a much higher cost to me via an Internet connection from her.! Of discovery and bracing to see what happens this fall, Dr. Michelle enjoys spending time her! Healing and growth as a subscriber, you kept some contact with your father then! Her afterwards are constant battles going, and that is overwhelmingly male and white saw in and out of.! The home the accepting hospital back to talk more about her life and experiences wouldnt be the last in South. 'S why she presented with altered consciousness that day the habit of through... Attacks her during an examination at that point, at that point, at that,! Effect it had on the case later, that would have been a much higher cost me! Oakley, are still married Movement ( caresmentoring.org ) provides social and academic support to help Black succeed... To me via an Internet connection from her home Sharkey has found love with other!, probably, a couple of times what happens this fall YouTube and Twitter nurse.! Like getting acclimated to that community and the Renaissance School of medicine at we 're supposed to do so! Work as an emergency room physician in a complicated family, she says thats priceless her!