Medical School Burnout: How the Humanities Can Help with Empathy Drain

Jane F. Thrailkill was recently honored with the Manekin Family Award for Teaching Excellence in Honors Carolina. Dr. Thrailkill swerved away from a career in health care and instead earned her Ph.D. in English and American Literature. Her interest in medicine has persisted, however: her first book studied the influence of medical ideas on American authors such as Mark Twain, Henry James, and Kate Chopin. She is Co-Director of HHIVE (Health & Humanities: Interdisciplinary Venue for Exploration). Her talk for TEDxUNC looks at the serious issue of hospital-based delirium and describes how literary study can give insight into medical problems. Dr. Thrailkill has been recognized for her commitment to undergraduate teaching by a number of university-wide teaching awards and a Bank of America Honors Distinguished Term Chair.