Almost There Podcast
191 min Listen
The marvelous connections between poetry and medicine
Sri Shamasunder likes to say he was a poet before he was a doctor. His college mentor, the legendary poet and activist June Jordan, passed away from cancer during his first year of medical school, but had a lasting impact on his practice of medicine. She encouraged him to harness righteous anger and to use his voice to fight inequity, inspiring Shamasunder’s work as a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and as the co-founder and director of the HEAL Initiative, an equity-based global health fellowship that provides quality care for communities in need around the world.
In this episode, Sri and Dwayne discuss the surprising similarities between poetry and medicine; how the HEAL Initiative cultivates “noble friendships” across cultural divides; and the impact of the mentorship of June Jordan and Dr. Paul Farmer on Sri’s life and career. Plus: so much poetry! Poems mentioned in this episode include:
"To Walk in Beauty Once Again" by Sri Shamasunder (for Adriann Begay, June 2020)
"The Guest House" by Jalaluddin Rumi
"In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver
"Our Daily Bread" by César Vallejo
"It’s Hard to Keep a Clean Shirt Clean" by June Jordan (poem for Sri Shamasunder)
Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.
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