[Read an excerpt from The Beauty in Breaking. ]. You wrote a piece recently for the website Medium - I guess it was about six weeks ago - describing the harrowing work of treating COVID-19 patients. If we had more people in medicine from poor or otherwise disenfranchised backgrounds, we would have better physicians, physicians who could empathize more. Harpers memoir explores her own path to healing, told with compassion and urgency through interactions with her patients. For example, the face shield I talk about is different than the one we have now because we had a donation from an outside company. THE BEAUTY IN BREAKING (Riverhead, 280 pp., $27) is the riveting, heartbreaking, sometimes difficult, always inspiring story of how she made this happen. The 52-year-old, best known for her appearances in Embarrassing Bodies and on ITV's This Morning, has moved out of the . She was being sexually harassed at work and the customers treated her horribly. DAVIES: Dr. Michele Harper is an emergency room physician. DAVIES: You know, you write in the book that you navigate an American landscape that claims to be post-racial when every waking moment reveals the contrary. 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. So we reuse it over and over again. It was important for me to see her. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. She is an emergency room physician, and she has a new memoir about her experiences. HARPER: Yes. As Harper remembers it, The whole gamut of life seemed to be converging in this space., She decided she wanted to become an emergency room doctor because unlike in the war zone that was my childhood, I would be in control of that space, providing relief or at least a reprieve to those who called out for help.. And it's a very easy exam. 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. So it never felt safe at home. The constant in Dr. Harper's reflection on these patients is the importance of connection, the importance of asking the hard . There's (laughter) - it did not grow or deepen. Some salient memories that just remind me of the insecurity of it - there would always be some kind of physical violence. And just to speak to this example, I was going for a promotion, a hospital position, going to remain full-time clinical staff in the ER but also have an administrative position in the hospital. Racism affects everything with my work as a doctor. My ER director said that she complained. I want you out of here." And I put it that way, there was another fight, because there was always some kind of fight where my brother was trying to help my mother. She was cast by Lady Gaga in the Elle magazine series The New Muse. What's it like not to have follow-up, not to know what became of these folks? Further, for women and people of color who do make it into the medical field, were often overlooked for leadership roles. Her Patients, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/books/the-beauty-in-breaking-michele-harper.html. she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. . Photo courtesy of Penguin Random House. HARPER: Yes. 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. But because of socialization, implicit bias and other effects of racism and discrimination, it doesn't happen that way. About Elise Michelle Harper MD. And you - I guess, gradually, you kept some contact with your father, then eventually cut off Off contact altogether. Am I inhaling virus? There was no bruising or swelling. 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. She is an advocate of personal wellness and evolution as a foundation for collective liberation. The end of her marriage brought the beginning of her self-healing. And in this case, the resident, who kind of tried to go over your head to the hospital, was a white person. There's another moment in the book where you talk about having tried to resuscitate a baby who was brought in who died. DAVIES: You know, the ER doctor has these intense encounters, but they're usually one-time events. But your childhood was not easy. Her memoir is "The Beauty In Breaking." Coming up, Maureen Corrigan reviews "Mexican Gothic," a horror story she says is a ghastly treat . And it was a devastating moment because it just felt that there was no way out and that we - we identified with my brother as being our protector - were now all being blamed for the violence. Each step along the way, there is risk - risk to him being anywhere from injured, physically, to death. This Week on The Literary Life Podcast. Please register to receive a link for viewing this online event. School was kind of a refuge for you? She was there with her doting father. The following techniques are used in her office . Harper's first 10 years practicing medicine from an ER in New York City to another in Philadelphia have taught her the . My boss stance was, "Well, we can't have this, we want to make her happy because she works here." Just as Harper would never show up to examine a patient without her stethoscope, the reader should not open this book without a pen in hand. Do you think of police in general as being in the helping fields? A graduate of . Dr. Michele Harper is an award-winning physician, New York Times bestselling author, and nationally recognized speaker whose work centers on individual healing and social justice. Fashionista and businesswoman who is known for her eccentric dress style and public appearances. After some time at a teaching hospital, you went to - you worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Philadelphia. Published on July 7, 2020 05:41 PM. So in that way, it's hard. Before meeting Ms. Shimizu, Ms. Harper was linked to the filmmaker Daniel Leeb, sometimes inaccurately described in print as her husband. So I call the accepting hospital back to let them know that. And then there's the transparent shield. Email this page. The other part of me was pissed off that she felt so entitled to behave so indecently. June 11, 2021 10:14 AM PT. Michele Harper: Processing what she saw in and out of the ER. Join our community book club. And I think that that has served me well. Photos of Harper the bride wearing her voluminous wedding gown on . HARPER: The change is that we've had donations. Working on the frontlines of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in a predominantly Black and brown community, Ive treated many essential workers: grocery store employees, postal workers. I mean, of course, if they're admitted to the hospital, we can - we usually get follow-up. This is FRESH AIR. It's everyone, at all times. Did you get more comfortable with it as time went on? Not only did he read his own CT scans, he stared unflinchingly at his own life and shared his findings with unimaginable courage. Was it OK? (SOUNDBITE OF TAYLOR HASKINS' "ALBERTO BALSALM"), DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. She is an emergency medicine physician who has written a new memoir about her life and experiences. So the experiences that would apply did apply. And usually, it's safe. 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. In that way, it can make it easier to move on because it's hard work. It was a gift that they gave me that, then, yes, allowed me to heal in ways that weren't previously possible. He said it wasn't true. While she waited for John, she took in the scene in the emergency room: an old man napping, a young man waiting for a ride home, a father rushing through sliding doors with his little girl in his arms. And when they showed up, they said, well, I suppose we'll just arrest you both, meaning my father and my brother. And I didn't get the job. This is her story, as told to PEOPLE. On the other hand, it makes the work easier just to be the best doctor you can and not get the follow-up. DAVIES: You know, you write in the very beginning of the book, in describing what the book is about, that you want to take us into the chaos of emergency medicine and show us where the center is. 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. HARPER: Yes, 100%. Her behavior was out of line.". (SOUNDBITE OF THE ADAM PRICE GROUP'S "STORYVILLE"). And so I left because that was too much to bear. This was not one of those circumstances. Clinically, all along the way - I prefer clinically to work in environments that are lower-resourced financially, immigrant, underrepresented people of color. And, you know, while I haven't had a child that has died, I recognized in the parents when I had to talk to them after the code and tell them that their baby, that their perfect child - and the baby was perfect - had passed away, I recognized in them the agony, the loss of plans, of promise, the loss of a future that one had imagined. Get out. She went on to attend Harvard, where she met her husband. 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. You know, there's no way for me to determine it. They didn't inquire about any of us. Share this page on Facebook. Dr. Emily and her family moved to Virginia around June 2019. DAVIES: You did your residency in the South Bronx in a community that had issues with drug dealing and gang violence. She spent more than a decade as an emergency room physician. Share this page on LinkedIn. I felt Id lost the capacity to write or speak well, but there were stories that stayed with me this sense of humanity and spirituality that called to me from my work in the medical practice. About Elise Michelle Harper, MD. 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? That is my mission. So for me, school - and I went to National Cathedral School. DAVIES: Let's talk a bit about your background as you describe it in the book. They left. Certainly it was my safe haven when I could leave the home. I mean, you say that her body had a story to tell. You did. This is FRESH AIR. 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. 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. Of the doctors and nurses on duty, I was the only Black person. They didn't ask us if we were safe. Her memoir is "The Beauty In Breaking." You got into Harvard, did well there and went to medical school. Like any workplace, medicine has a hierarchy but people of color and women are usually undermined. Then, thankfully, my father then left for a little bit also. Our hours have been cut, our pay has been cut because healthcare in America is a for-profit system. Michele Harper is a female African American emergency room physician in an overwhelmingly male and white profession. Recorded in Miami and Philadelphia. She looked well, just stuporous. Michele Harpers memoir could not be more timely. And I felt that, in that way, I would never be trapped. For example: at hospitals in big cities, why doesnt the staff reflect the diversity of its community? In "The Beauty in Breaking," Dr. Michele Harper shares stories from the field, and how healing patients who've trusted her with their lives taught her to care for herself. 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 . NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. So I replied, "Well, do you want to check? 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. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to . There were other popular employees like Dr. Sandra Wisniewski and Dr. Elizabeth Grammar who also left the show. HARPER: There are times and it's really difficult because we want to know. The Wisconsin Book Festival and the UW-Madison All of Us research program collaborate to host a talk by Dr. Michele Harper. At that point, at that time of the day, I was the only Black attending physician, and the police were white. Is it different? And it felt dangerous. And you give a pretty dispiriting picture of the place in some ways. She is popular for being a Business Executive. They speak English and Spanish. DAVIES: I don't want to dwell on this too much. Indeed, Dr. Emily revealed the reasons behind why Dr. Sharkey left in a tweet on February 21, 2020. That's why it was painful to not have the childhood that I wanted or deserved. ER Physician and author of THE BEAUTY IN BREAKING, a New York Times Bestseller ( @riverheadbooks ) Speaking: @penguinrandomhouse Speakers Bureau. Heres what I learned, Book Club reads Michele Harpers The Beauty in Breaking, Travis Bickle, meet Toni Morrison, in a socially probing, fiercely fun debut novel, Scott Adams says he was using hyperbole: America being programmed to see race first, 10 books to add to your reading list in March, For the soul of Black history, a podcaster-author looked past the same old stories, How MIT scientists fought for gender equality and won, How free-market extremism became Americas default mode, Penguin announces The Roald Dahl Classic Collection after outrage over censorship, It was all a blur: How guitarist Graham Coxon (barely) survived Britpop, in a memoir, Sign up for the Los Angeles Times Book Club, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? DAVIES: Let me reintroduce you. Their specialties include Obstetrics & Gynecology. I mean, she said that she had been through a lot. Is it my sole responsibility to do that? Her cries became more and more distressed. She has taken on many leadership roles . Harpers crash course on the state of American health care should be a prerequisite for anyone awaiting a coronavirus vaccine. They're allowed to do it. So I could relate to that. But I think there's something in this book about what you get out of treating these patients, the insight of this center of emergency medicine that you talk about. I'm hoping that we will. It wasnt easy. The bosses know were getting sick, but won't let us take off until it gets to the point where we literally can't breathe. Then I started the medical path, and it beat the words out of me. I mean, mainly we get that to make sure there's no infection causing the fever. It certainly has an emotional toll. This is the setting of Dr. Michele Harper's memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, which explores how the healing journeys of her patients intersect with her own. You write that the hospital would be so full of patients that some would wait in the ER, and then you would be expected to care for them in addition to those arriving for emergency care. 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. It wasnt the first time he was violent, and it wouldnt be the last. I mean, was it difficult? I kept thinking, This is absurd. Part of me was laughing inside because she thought she could be so ignorant and inappropriate. 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. There are limitations in hirings and promotions. We have to examine why this is happening. Welcome to FRESH AIR. All of them have a lesson of some kind. And I should just note to listeners that this involves a subject that will - well, may be disturbing to some. She loves following patients through different phases of their lives, helping them to stay healthy and fulfilled. But she wasn't waking up, so I knew I was going to have to transfer her anyway. The Beauty in Breaking is a journey of a thousand judgment calls, including some lighter moments. So he would - when he was big enough, he would intervene and try and protect my mother. You constantly have to prove yourself to all kinds of people. Dr. Harper received her BA in Psychology from Harvard University . So it was a natural fit for me. She is affiliated with Saint Francis Medical Center. ( 2014-04-12) Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet is an American television series on Nat Geo Wild. As a Black woman, I navigate an American landscape that claims to be postracial when every waking moment reveals the contrary, Michele Harper writes. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, I read books from across the U.S. to understand our divided nation. And my staff - I was working with a resident at the time who didn't understand. Did your relationship grow? 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). If you have a question for her, please leave it in the comments and she may respond then. It's a clinical determination. Later, I learned they hired a white male nurse instead. 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.. You want to describe some of the family dynamics that made it hard? Dr. Michele Harper is a New Jersey-based emergency room physician whose memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, is available now. D.C., in a complicated family, she attended Harvard, where she met her husband. 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. They have no role in a febrile seizure. They stayed . HARPER: It was. Our guest today, Michele Harper, is a career ER doctor and one of roughly 2% of American physicians who are African American women. In another passage, Harper recounts an incident in which a patient unexpectedly turns violent and attacks her during an examination. 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. South Bronx in a community that had issues with drug dealing and gang violence 'm... 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