Quinnipiac University Professor’s Essay to Be Published

NORTH HAVEN, CT – An essay by Anna-leila Williams of Hamden, professor of medical sciences at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, will be featured in a collection of essays and poems about the grief suffered by health care professionals working in high-loss environments.

Williams’ essay, “Spider-Man,” was selected from more than 130 entries submitted for “The Healer’s Burden: Stories and Poems of Professional Grief,” a book that examines a time when health care workers are under tremendous strain. The collection, published by the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, includes essays and poems from contributors of various disciplines in health care curated by editors Melissa Fournier and Gina Pribaz.

"Dr. Williams’ story, 'Spider-Man,' is full of unforgettable imagery that haunts the reader and awakens one’s perception to the realities of professional grief,” Fournier said. “Williams makes it known one need not be a close family member to grieve. An intense moment of caring can lead to this different kind of grief. For these reasons, 'Spider-Man' stood out among many submissions as a necessary inclusion in ‘The Healer’s Burden,’ and we editors are grateful for Williams’ vulnerability in sharing her work."

Despite the pain of her grief, Williams said it was important to put her experience into words.

“I am honored to have my piece included in the book, ‘The Healer’s Burden.’ Professional grief is the shadow that accompanies health care workers and rarely is there opportunity to express and explore the shadow,” Williams said. “Writing ‘Spider-Man’ was a painful and beautiful opportunity for me to examine and learn from my experience of having a patient die.”

Dr. Ken Doka, a renowned death educator, sees tremendous value — and validation — in this collection of essays and poems.

“‘The Healer’s Burden: Stories and Poems of Professional Grief’ brings to the fore the feelings of end-of-life professionals as they daily face dying and death,” Doka said. “Such workers will find their grief — heretofore disenfranchised — now validated. While this alone is so valuable, they can also find strategies to cope with the inevitable experience, yet often hidden, of the impact of loss and grief. Given the current pandemic, this book could not have arrived at a more needed time. It is a mandated read for seasoned and beginning health care providers now working in that thin space between life and death.”

Williams, a founding member of the School of Medicine faculty, received her PhD and PA from Yale University and completed post-doctoral training in psycho-oncology/palliative medicine at Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine. Her book, “Integrating Health Humanities, Social Sciences, and Clinical Care: A Guide to Self-Discovery, Compassion, and Well-being,” was published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis in 2019.