Writing and Reading the Medical Story
Why is Hospital Food So Bad?
Welcome everyone! It’s been a busy few weeks in my research world. I’ve been traveling to see, touch, and taste the latest settings for my new novel. Additionally, I’m in pre-promotion mode with podcasts and such for The Pelican Tide, which arrives in 21 days! Scroll to the bottom to enter a free e-book giveaway on Goodreads courtesy of my publisher, Lake Union.
I’m Not a Book Doctor, but I Include Doctors in my Books
Today I want to write about medical issues in stories. I’m fascinated by science and the natural world and gravitate toward stories and situations that include these issues. However, I’m not alone as a writer or a reader/viewer.
My main character’s condition is the inciting incident in the book that puts the story into motion.
I’m on a research expedition to understand the problem I picked, risks and rewards to treatment, and how she and her family and friends may react to a variety of options. But that’s me -research nerd.
This has me considering why do so many stories have medical issues? And I’m not speaking only of books. My mother has been following the soap opera General Hospital since it aired in 1963.
Medical dramas have always captured our attention. ABC aired the first medical drama in 1951 called City Hospital. It was groundbreaking at the time as one of the characters was a female doctor, Dr. Kate Murrow.
According to the American Medical Association, women now make up 36 percent of America’s physician workforce, compared to just 6 percent in 1950. And for the first time in history, 2017 saw more women entering medical school than men.
Medical shows have been a hit since then.
Consider these TV shows:
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Quincy (about a medical examiner)
ER
Grey’s Anatomy
Scrubs
Do you have a favorite medical drama?
Then there are the myriad of documentaries and movies about chronic illness. I found this list 20-Must Watch Movies about Chronic Illness. (Must watch seems a little too gleeful.)
Why Do We Love Medical Issues?
Before I delve into books, I want to answer the question of why are we captivated by stories of illness and the medical profession?
Prof George Ikkos, president of the Royal Society of Medicine's psychiatry section, says it is more to do with learning about ourselves from other people.
"The integrity of our body is extremely important. We should be concerned about our own body and that lies at the heart of it.
"Programmes like Casualty are dramatic and exciting - they involve a lot of ordinary people we can relate to directly.
It also seems medical “entertainment” offers a source of voyerism. I like this list published in the Desert News by Margaret Darby.
She writes, We like scary things when we feel safe on the couch. Doctors are modern day heroes, We’re fascinated by gore.
Our Brains on Gore
Why do we like gore? According to an article published in Bustle it’s like riding a roller coaster, it gets our adrenaline pumping but we know we’re safe. Dr. Marian Rissenberg says about actual medical personnel, “when you're exposed to [gore] this kind of content every day, you learn how to stomach it and your brain creates new circuitry to accommodate it. Basically, doctors program their brains to see injuries as problems that need to be fixed, rather than stimuli to have an emotional response over.”
Stories allow us to experience another person’s life. It’s known that fiction creates empathy as well as knowledge.
A Look at Books and Writing Them
I like this Writer’s Digest interview with neuroscientist and acclaimed author Lisa Genova who writes fiction about fatal neurological diseases. She discusses the importance of writing these often sad stories.
“Your value as a human being doesn’t depend on your memories or what you can and can’t do or whatever disease you may have,” says Genova. That’s the lesson the characters in her novels learn.”
Genova is a favorite author of mine because she has the ability to humanize complicated medical conditions.
Being a neuroscientist helps. I can only aspire to treat any medical condition with a whisper of her depth.
Medical fiction is its own genre. This chart below is taken from Barton Community College. Visit this link to see the entire article that includes a good definition and examples
When I write about my character’s medical conditions, I write from the patient/family point of view so my stories don’t fall into the medical fiction genre.
I take the “how would I feel” route. It’s a risky move as a writer. Authenticity requires work. Research and speaking with people is best, as is finding a sensitivity reader who can assess if you’ve made any factual errors or have missed something that would add depth and understand to a complicated situation.
Character Diagnosis
I accept the challenge of writing about medical conditions. I also agree with the idea that we are fascinated by medical stories that we can take in from the safety of our comfy chairs. However, there are differing points of view and I would be remiss not to toss that into the mix.
A recent Writer Unboxed blog posted by my friend Kathryn Craft asks whether characters need to be diagnosed. Kathryn posits no that the defined medical condition may actually take away from the story.
I disagree with Kathryn and the fun of knowing her is that she’s always up for a good debate. I’ve learned so much from her over the years, I’m allowed to disagree on this.
But…to give her some props where she deserves it (ha)! she does ask writers to consider these questions, which are relevant to any good story.
How will a firm diagnosis improve your protagonist’s story in a way that characterization alone cannot?
Do you have a hidden goal of teaching the reader about a certain condition?
What is your protagonist’s story goal?
Could you characterize the condition itself by giving it a more fanciful name?
How can you surprise the reader who has experience with this condition?
I Want to Know
I experienced the no diagnosed reading frustration at a recent book club meeting where we read Meg Mason’s Sorrow and Bliss about a woman with a myriad of significant mental health issues. Her condition is eventually diagnosed but purposefully undefined. In fact, Mason says in an author’s note that her character’s condition is made up and based on a variety of mental health issues.
This lack of a diagnosis and kitchen sink mental illness characterization earned low marks from the group. Two of the readers had a mental health education and felt distracted by trying to diagnosis the character. One reader was managing a family member’s mental health issues and was bothered by the mash-up of symptoms that didn’t feel authentic. We all acknowledged that no two people experience anything good or bad the same way. The novel though well-written, had an unraveling thread.
I took the book club reaction as a mini-focus group and have elected to define my character’s illness.
Where to Research Beyond Dr. Google
In a past newsletter I interviewed Dr. Annie Fenn about her project, The Brain Health Kitchen. Annie and I talked about Researching Brain Science and Food. That issue below has some useful advice and resources on how to use the web for medical resources. I also highly recommend her Substack, The Brain Health Kitchen if you’re looking for ways to use food to protect your brain health.
Building a Character
Back to my research. My character is a singer and has a medical issue like Julie Andrews, Adele, Meghan Trainor, and most recently Jon Bon Jovi. I’ve been able to read interviews, watch videos, and have found similar information on recovery outcomes. All of this is informing how my character may react to the all the bad news I’m heaping on her. Overlay that with her personality and I have what I hope is a 3-D character.
Creating complete characters requires an understanding of how people in specific situations actually respond. This is where videos and first-hand accounts are useful. I recently found an excellent medical resource when I went on a side jaunt to understand why hospital food is so bad.
I Digress but…
Recently a relative had a medical procedure that required an overnight at the hospital. The relative had the procedure done at one of the best hospitals in the country. The standard of care was excellent but the food was inedible. The nurse on duty confirmed that the food was awful both for the patients and the hospital staff.
Nutrition and health are tightly linked and while I don’t expect a gourmet meal at a hospital, patients should expect food to help them regain their strength. That is one of the reasons they’re there.
Turns out hospital food is a cost center. And in this era of sky high medical costs and the politics of health care… well, those in charge have decided that food can be outsourced to the lowest cost bidder. I won’t go into a rant on that but I could.
In my reading in the Internet rabbit warren I came across this article, Food is Medicine by Benjamin T. Ostrander, MD, MSE.
Dr. Ostrander presents his interesting and informed thoughts on the failings of hospital food. This essay corroborated others I had read.
However, the bigger find was the Doximity network and an incredible collection of essays written by healthcare professionals under the Op-med platform.
After reading my fill of hospital food, I spent an afternoon reading a variety of essays on topics such as standard of care, medical school, patient relationships, and on and on. These thoughtful essays come from healthcare professionals and offer incredible details, motivations, thoughts, and insights. If you’re creating a healthcare worker character, I recommend spending time reading these essays. If you’re interested in medical topics, you may find answers here as well.
I’ve only provided a small stitch of medical issues in writing. This is a topic I hope to explore in greater detail.
And now for the giveaway….
From now until June 10, you can enter a giveaway on Goodreads for one of 100 free e-books of The Pelican Tide.
Thanks for reading!
Hi Sharon, this was interesting in so many ways. I’m a huge fan of hospital shows. I had to give up General Hospital some 20 years ago (pre-cell phones) because my sister and I would actually pay for long distance calls just to talk about these people as if they were real, and I decided I needed to get a life, lol.
Of course, all of those shows are great because of how their characters deal with the high stakes when they get involved with the cases. Following a medical case at the expense of characterization would not make for good literature! I think your book club discussion was very interesting, and a cautionary tale for creating a mishmash of symptoms that could confuse the reader. it sounds like you answered all the questions that I posed for your book and came down on the side of diagnosis, which is great! Thanks so much for this conversation, I really enjoyed this post.
Most of my stories also have characters with medical conditions or in medical settings. I did my graduate lecture on Writing the Medical. The rest of the title is a little off putting but it had to do with what I hated dealing when I worked as a staff nurse. Health and sickness are the two things that unite everyone!