{"id":62003,"date":"2018-05-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/05\/23\/dr-shillcutts-essay-on-loss-published-in-jama\/"},"modified":"2022-09-02T17:19:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T22:19:16","slug":"dr-shillcutts-essay-on-loss-published-in-jama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2018\/05\/23\/dr-shillcutts-essay-on-loss-published-in-jama\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Shillcutt’s essay on loss published in JAMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sasha Shillcutt, M.D., has published nearly 40 scientific papers in research journals.<\/p>\n

This month, she got her first publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association — for a piece of creative nonfiction.<\/p>\n

Dr. Shillcutt’s essay, “Rounds,” grew from a journal entry that was several years old and deals with the aftermath of losing a patient.<\/p>\n

Read the essay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Shillcutt recognized that, following a tragic workday, she had developed a routine.<\/p>\n

“I would go upstairs in the middle of the night and sit with my kids on their bed and watch them sleep,” she said. “And I realized this had become a mechanism for me to help me process.”<\/p>\n

Dr. Shillcutt has a popular blog, “Brave Enough,”<\/a> that deals with the challenges of being a woman physician as well as a mother, but this piece didn’t seem to fit the blog’s tone. So she reached out to a colleague at Harvard, who had published several essays and books, for advice.<\/p>\n

“She encouraged me to put a little more work into it,” Dr. Shillcutt said. “Then I submitted it to the journal, and it was accepted.”<\/p>\n

Not only was it her first professionally published piece of creative nonfiction, it was the quickest publication acceptance she’d ever gotten. <\/p>\n

“I have published close to 40 scientific manuscripts, and that is my style of writing. Then I started blogging because I love to write creatively,” she said.<\/p>\n

Switching from the academic to creative style of writing and back was so challenging, she hired a writing coach. But now, she said, her creative writing skills have improved her research writing, as well.<\/p>\n

“There is humanity in medicine, but we as physicians often get so science-minded — in the way we talk and relate to people — that we struggle with processing the ‘humanity’ side,” she said. “The way that I process is writing.” <\/p>\n

Dr. Shillcutt has received reactions from around the world since the piece was published.<\/p>\n

“I think the piece resonated with people,” she said. “It’s not something you talk about (how you process loss).”<\/p>\n

She plans to continue both her creative nonfiction and her scientific writing, she said. <\/p>\n

“Writing is very important to me.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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