Harper shares her poignant stories from the ER with Mitchell Kaplan. She has a new memoir about her experiences in the emergency room and how they've helped her grow personally. So I could relate to that. And they were summoned, probably, a couple of times. I love the discussion. 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." But I was really concerned that this child had been beaten and was having traumatic brain injury and that's why she wasn't waking up. [Recent data from the Association of American Medical Colleges shows that of all active physicians in the United States, only 5% identified as Black or African American. So I call the accepting hospital back to let them know that. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and we're speaking with Dr. Michele Harper. From there, Harper went to an emergency room in North Philadelphia (which had a volume of more than 95,000 patients a year) and then across town to yet another facility, where she had fewer bureaucratic obligations and more time for her true calling: seeing patients. I'm always more appreciated in the community and even within hospital systems. It's another thing to act. 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. About Elise Michelle Harper MD. A graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, she has worked as an ER doctor 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. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to . 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. It's called "The Beauty In Breaking." 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. And I felt that if I just left the room and didn't ask that I would be ignoring her pain. 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Welcome to FRESH AIR. They left. So if I had done something different, that would have been a much higher cost to me emotionally. It wasnt easy. She is an emergency medicine physician who has written a new memoir about her life and experiences. 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. HARPER: Oh, yeah, all the time. Her memoir is "The Beauty In Breaking." I said, "What is going on?" 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. Series Image. In this exquisitely-written, incredibly humane, and inspiring memoir, she tells the story of how she found healing for her own wounds by becoming a healer of others. Dr. Michele Krohn-Harper is a Chiropractic Physician and Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist with a practice in Dublin, Ohio, since 1996. You did. There's another moment in the book where you talk about having tried to resuscitate a baby who was brought in who died. Harper, who has worked as an ER physician for more than a decade, said she found her own life broken when she began writing The Beauty in the Breaking. Her marriage had ended, and she had moved to Philadelphia to begin a new job. Harper shares her poignant stories from the ER with Mitchell Kaplan. The pair married in Hawaii on December 10, 1992. 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. So he would - when he was big enough, he would intervene and try and protect my mother. 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. She was cast by Lady Gaga in the Elle magazine series The New Muse. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. HARPER: Yes. Our guest today, Michele Harper, is a career ER doctor and one of roughly 2% of American physicians who are African American women. The Beauty in Breaking is a journey of a thousand judgment calls, including some lighter moments. It's called "The Beauty In Breaking.". Once I finished the book, I realized the whole time Id been learning.. And then there's the transparent shield. Where: Free live streaming event on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. DAVIES: Right. She listens. None of us knew what was happening. In medicine, theres no consensus that racism is a problem. 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. And you said that when you went home, you cried. Did you feel more appreciated in the Bronx? It's called "The Beauty In Breaking." And it's a long, agonizing process, you know, administering drugs, doing the pumping. Thats why I have to detonate my life. So not only had they done all this violation, but then they were trying to take away her livelihood as well. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. We know, in medicine, people can make their own decisions. But the shortages remain. I mean, mainly we get that to make sure there's no infection causing the fever. We'll continue our conversation in just a moment. Whether you have read The Beauty in Breaking or not there are important lessons in self-healing to take . I'm the one who answered the door, and I was a child. 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 . Her X-ray was pretty much OK. I mean, of course, if they're admitted to the hospital, we can - we usually get follow-up. If you have a question for her, please leave it in the comments and she may respond then. Our hours have been cut, our pay has been cut because healthcare in America is a for-profit system. Dr. Harper has particular interests in high-risk and routine obstetrics and preventive care. Still reeling, Harper moved to Philadelphia to work at a hospital where she was eventually passed over for a promotion by an apologetic (white, male, liberal) department chair who said: I just cant ever seem to get a Black person or a woman promoted here. 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 Times Best Selling memoir, The Beauty in Breaking. And one of them that I wanted to focus on was one of the last in the book. But that night was the first time Harper caught a glimpse of a future outside her parents house. No. The emergency room is a place of intensitya place of noise and colors and human drama. She looked fine physically. . And so we're all just bracing to see what happens this fall. 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 . The officers said we were to do it anyway. There was no bruising or swelling. 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. On Tuesday, July 21 at 7 p.m., well be talking live with Michele Harper on our Instagram. We are so pleased to announce Dr. Michele Harper as our Chief Medical Advisor! Sign up on Eventbrite. We need to support our essential workers, which means having a living wage, affordable housing, sick leave and healthcare. HARPER: No. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the . I don't know what happened to her afterwards. 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. They have no role in a febrile seizure. 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. Washington University School of Medicine, MD. June 11, 2021 10:14 AM PT. And one of the reasons I spoke about this case is because one may think, OK, well, maybe it's not clear cut medically, but it really is. 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. . HARPER: Yes. 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. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. We're speaking with Dr. Michele Harper. Did you get more comfortable with it as time went on? . So in that way, it's hard. 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. (An emergency room is a great equalizer, but only to an extent.) Its not coincidental that I'm often the only Black woman in my department. Dr. Michele Harper is a female African American emergency room physician in an overwhelmingly male and white profession. The following review first appeared in The DO magazine. I was horrified. 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. ColorofChange.org works to make government more responsive to racial disparities. I was really scared because I didnt know that I could write a book. D.C., in an abusive family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. So the medical establishment, also, clearly needs reform. About Elise Michelle Harper, MD. Then along the way, undergrad, medical school, that was no longer a refuge. 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. The past few nights she's treated . 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. Know My Name, by Chanel Miller. I feel a responsibility to serve my patients. Her memoir is "The Beauty In Breaking." I'm the one who ends up standing up for them. All of those heroes trying to recover from the trauma of the pandemic are trying to figure out how to live and how to survive.. But there was one time that I called. "was reminded, too, of Dr. Albert Kligman's experiments on imprisoned men in Philadelphia from the 1950s to the 1970s. Did your relationship grow? HARPER: And yes, you know, that's - and I'm glad you bring that up. And I'm not sure what the question here is. Her Patients, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/07/books/the-beauty-in-breaking-michele-harper.html. And when they showed up, they said, well, I suppose we'll just arrest you both, meaning my father and my brother. It was traumatic brain injury, and that's why she presented with altered consciousness that day. When I left the room, I found out that the police officer had said that he was going to try to arrest me for interfering with his investigation. Is it different? So in trying to cope and trying to figure out what to do, she started drinking, and that's why we're seeing her getting sober. DAVIES: And we should just note that you were able to calmly talk to him and ask him if he would let you take his vital signs. My boss stance was, "Well, we can't have this, we want to make her happy because she works here." But if it's just a one-time event in the ER and they're discharged and go out into the world - there are people and stories that stay with us, clearly, as I write about such cases. So we reuse it over and over again. But everyone heard her yelling and no one got up. HARPER: Yes. Monday, 8/22/2022 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm . 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. They speak English and Spanish. 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 Times Best Selling memoir, The Beauty in Breaking. At first glance, this memoir by a sexual assault survivor may not appear to have much in common with The Beauty in Breaking. But the cover of Chanel Millers book was inspired by the Japanese art of kintsukuroi, where broken pottery is repaired by filling the cracks with gold, silver or platinum. I continued, "So her complaint is not valid. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. The end of her marriage brought the beginning of her self-healing. And that was an important story for me to tell not only because, yes, the police need reform. Studies show that these doctors tend to be more empathetic to their patients. You've also worked in big-city teaching hospitals where that was not as much the case, I assume. Kligman biopsied, burned, and deformed the bodies of prison inmates to study the effects of hundreds of experimental drugs. Dr. Harper is one of the mere 2% of Black women doctors working in America and she's on the front lines, as an Emergency Room doctor. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central . 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 . Its a blessing, a good problem to have. Well, as the results came back one by one, they were elevated. I subsequently left the hospital. Original release. It wasn't about me. I didn't know why. Dell Med Directory Bio: Lorie M. Harper, MD. Her story is increasingly relevant as the aftermath of the pandemic continues to profoundly affect the medical community. She's an emergency medicine physician. So they brought him in because part of their legal work is to prove it. Harper looks each one in the eye. Appointments: 1-512-324-7256. 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's emotionally taxing. She and I spoke for a long time about how she had no one to talk to, and now because of coronavirus, she was even more alone than she used to be. DAVIES: You did your residency in the South Bronx in a community that had issues with drug dealing and gang violence. You know, I speak about some of my experiences, as you mention, where I was in a large teaching hospital, more affluent community, predominantly white and male clinical staff. And it's the end of my shift. I didnt know the endgame. It wasnt the first time he was violent, and it wouldnt be the last. But your childhood was not easy. He did not - well, no medical complaints. DAVIES: And what would they have wanted you to do, other than to evaluate his health? It's your patients. No. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. She went on to attend Harvard, where she met her husband. 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. And as a result, it did expedite the care that she needed. She says writing became not only a salve to dramatic life changes but a means of healing from the journey that led her to pursue emergency medicine as a career. This is a building I knew. It's a clinical determination. And he said, but, you know, I hope you'll stay on with me. Accuracy and availability may vary. And I was - the only rescue would be one that I could manage for myself. 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 . Heather John Fogarty is a Los Angeles writer whose work is anthologized in Slouching Towards Los Angeles: Living and Writing and by Joan Didions Light. She teaches journalism at USC Annenberg. You know, the dynamics are interesting there. I mean, there was the mask on your face. The popular couple has been together for over two decades, and . micheleharpermd. The end of her marriage brought the beginning of her self-healing. Indeed, Dr. Emily revealed the reasons behind why Dr. Sharkey left in a tweet on February 21, 2020. You know, ER doctors and nurses have a lot of dealings with police, and there's a lot of talk about reforming police these days, you know, defunding police in the wake of protests of police killings of African Americans. I mean, I ended up helping my brother get care for that wound. Like any workplace, medicine has a hierarchy but people of color and women are usually undermined. . 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