Trailer: Season 1
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Why do doctors feel like they’re just a character in a TV show?
I have to say the only time I've actually considered that my doctor is human and has a life is when she got pregnant. And I was like, whoa, there's something going on outside of this room.
It's like when you're a kid in school and you feel like your teacher just lives in the classroom. Insert Mean Girls quote. I love seeing teachers outside of school. It's like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs. Yes, exactly.
What is The Nocturnist podcast and who is behind it?
Exactly. This is The Nocturnist, a podcast about what it's like to work in medicine. And I'm your host, Emily Silverman.
A lot of people I meet ask me what it's like to be a doctor. And a lot of times that question goes like, what's it like to be a doctor? And before I can even answer, they say, is it just like house?
The Nocturnist is a live storytelling show based in San Francisco where doctors and other health care professionals pull back the curtain on medicine.
How will each episode blend live storytelling with a post‑story interview?
Their stories explore pain and suffering, but also moments of beauty, hope, humor and resilience. And they're really important for doctors to tell. I know because I am one. So in each episode, after we hear the live story, I'm going to sit down and chat with a storyteller. We'll be exploring tough questions like, how do we prevent doctors in training from becoming so burnt out that they lose the ability to empathize with their patients?
I believe that I started out with at least the usual allotment of empathy. Maybe even a little bit more.
Why is doctor burnout and loss of empathy such a critical issue?
It felt like waking up underwater to hear my pager go off. What is it like to deal with illness, suffering, and death professionally? All of them are wrong, and the pharmacy's paging me, and I'm on the phone, and I'm battling with the computer, and I look up for a second to realize I'm missing it. This was like a macabre math problem. Did I want one very warm body in the morgue anteroom plus 16 cool ones in the morgue refrigerator? Or did I open the door and land myself with 17 lukewarm bodies?
And how do we deal with the inherent power dynamics between doctor and patient?
What tough questions about power dynamics and patient care will the show explore?
He was also the sort of guy where the street had built up on him and really threatened to keep sort of distance between the people who cared for him and his humanity. People lose all their control. You know, they come in and there are these autonomous individuals and we take away their clothes and we give them a nondescript gown.
All of this and more on the Nocturnists podcast. Subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts and you'll get our first episode in just a few weeks. See you soon.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why do doctors feel like they’re just a character in a TV show?
0:00–0:29
2
What is The Nocturnist podcast and who is behind it?
0:29–1:02
3
How will each episode blend live storytelling with a post‑story interview?
1:02–1:41
4
Why is doctor burnout and loss of empathy such a critical issue?
1:41–2:16
5
What tough questions about power dynamics and patient care will the show explore?
2:16–2:46