CATHERINE
HUMIKOWSKI
Physician | Writer | Parent | Survivor
ABOUT
I am a pediatric intensive care physician who survived a cardiac arrest on the day my daughter was born. Also on the list of things that nearly killed me: cancer, internship, and the one time I tried capoeira. I live near Chicago where I practice medicine, hang out with my family, and write about survivorship and resilience.
CV
I earned my AB and MD from The University of Chicago, then trained in pediatrics and critical care medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. I was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Chicago until 2017 when I took a break from academics to spend more time with my family and write a book. I joined the faculty at Lurie Children's Hospital in 2020 and continue to write and speak about wellness and burnout in medicine.
ESSAYS
BEYOND BURNOUT
"Just before dawn on a Sunday, I wake to a frightening declaration in my head: I don't want to be a doctor anymore."
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
"We gathered again in the conference room, beige and windowless, at the end of a corridor in a hospital basement."
CONFESSION
"Wednesday, 6 a.m. Time to hear about the new admissions before rounds. An infant was found unresponsive in his crib..."
AND I SUBMITTED
"Nobody ever said to let a weeping mother cradle my own body in her hands. Was this too close? No. I could have wrapped my whole person around her and it would not have been too close."
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
"About a year ago, I died. Just for a few minutes, but long enough that I had a round of chest compressions so deep my sternum ached for weeks..."
LUNCHROOM REVOLUTION
"This dysfunctional dash to prioritize work over biologic necessity sacrifices more than just good digestion and an appreciation for the embodied self. It sacrifices community, commensality, and shared integrity."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE OP-ED
"During my first week in Chicago, I cared for as many children with gunshot wounds as I had seen over the course of two years in Boston..."
"Ten Best Stories to Read this Week", Chicago Magazine
For a list of academic publications, click here.
NEXT:
I thought I was a writer (all doctors are writers?) until I started taking courses in creative nonfiction at Northwestern University this spring (2023) and met some capital-W-Writers. Now it is more accurate to say "I am working on a book" than "I have written a book" and I am still very excited to see how it turns out. As it stands, the book uses true stories of acute resuscitation to examine the relationships between truth and hope, empiric and emotive reasoning, and the complicated interface between science and belief at the acute end of life. Stay tuned.
MEDIA
