The Nocturnists

Alzheimer's disease used to be a rare diagnosis. But today, more than 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's and this number is projected to triple to 14 million over the next forty years.

In this episode, Emily discusses the mounting practical, moral, and ethical quandaries of caring for patients with Alzheimer's and other dementia-causing diseases with Dr. Jason Karlawish, author of The Problem of Alzheimer's: How Science, Culture and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It.

The Nocturnists are partnering with VCU Health Continuing Education to offer FREE CME credits for healthcare professionals. Visit ce.vcuhealth.org/nocturnists to claim credit for this episode.

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The emergency room is a place of intensity—a place of noise and colors and human drama. 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.

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 bringing them to the ER.

The Nocturnists are partnering with VCU Health Continuing Education to offer FREE CME credits for healthcare professionals. Visit ce.vcuhealth.org/nocturnists to claim credit for this episode.

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Do no harm. Thou shalt not kill. Life is sacred and should be protected at all costs, right? But when is life no longer worth living? Who decides? And what do we do about it?

In this episode, Emily discusses the murky ethical dilemmas of medical aid in dying with award-winning journalist Katie Engelhart, the author of The Inevitable: Dispatches On The Right to Die.

The Nocturnists are partnering with VCU Health Continuing Education to offer free CME credits for healthcare professionals. Visit ce.vcuhealth.org/nocturnists to claim credit for this episode.

More at thenocturnists.com.

In the last few years, the medical profession has been grappling with the problem of gender bias in medicine, with how the symptoms of women are seen as atypical, or worse, are minimized, dismissed or ignored. But where did this problem come from? How far have we come and where should we go from here?

In this episode, Emily discusses these questions and more with Dr. Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World.

The Nocturnists are partnering with VCU Health Continuing Education to offer free CME credits for healthcare professionals. Visit ce.vcuhealth.org/nocturnists to claim credit for this episode.

More at thenocturnists.com.

It's been over a year since the first case of COVID-19 appeared in Seattle, and it's been a long cold lonely winter. But in our series finale, we wanted to hear about a bright spot in all the darkness: the first vaccines that found their way into the arms of healthcare workers all around the country.

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Where did the pandemic become real for you? This has been the most significant global public health crisis in a generation, but we each experienced it through a different set of eyes.

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The acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is over, but some things are here to stay. How have N-95s, face shields, gowns, gloves and ventilators inserted themselves into our everyday lives?

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The COVID-19 global health crisis shed light on the immense value of doctors, nurses, public health workers, and research scientists. At the same time, the pandemic has all but obliterated the arts: theater artists, dancers, and performers have lost their livelihoods and their purpose. But doesn't art save lives, too?

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We know the pandemic has affected the waking lives of healthcare workers. But what happens after we fall asleep? Does the pandemic haunt us in the shadows too?

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One of the hardest things about being healthcare workers going through this pandemic is that we've both experienced and borne witness to moments that nobody should have to go through alone. Who do we need by our side when everything falls apart? And what do we do when they can't be there?

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