Roster Of Physician Writers

We are surprised if the doctor, by stealing some hours from his daily avocations, attains even moderate eminence in the path of literature. Edward Berdoe,1883

The following list includes the names, life-dates, and nationalities of all the physician writers of whom I am aware, drawn from a variety of resources. To be included, an individual must be a physician (Doctor of Medicine or of Osteopathy in the United States, or similarly certified or accepted in countries other than the United States, or in previous eras), and must have published (not just self-published) at least one book (not just a chap book) of a "creative" nature - fiction, poetry, drama, essay. Pseudonyms are italicized, preceded or followed by real names. Each name is linked to a section of brief and informal biographical (emphasizing medical training and work) and bibliographical (including reference to background sources as well as selected works) information, but no literary criticism.   The total number of authors included is of course but a fraction of all physician writers, and, in addition to encouraging interest in this neglected aspect of the literature and medicine, or medical humanities, field, one reason for publishing this list is to invite suggestions for additions to it.  

Roster last updated 10/15/2002

For the original concept of this list as a website, Dr. Bryant would like to thank Suzanne Poirier, Ph.D., Professor of Literature and Medical Education at the University of Illinois, Chicago; and editor of Literature and Medicine.

You can learn more about medicine and literature at NYU's Litertature, Arts and Medicine Database.