From the chemistry labs of Yale to the operating rooms at Duke, the journey for Joey Lew ’19 M.F.A., M.D. is anything but typical. What distinguishes her path is not just a lifelong passion for medicine, but two transformative years at UNC Greensboro shaping her creative outlet. Her M.F.A. in poetry weaves together the precision of surgery with the artistry of verse.
Lew shares that in academic surgery, it is common to become a “surgeon and…” by building in a layer to their profession beyond the operating room. That might be a surgeon and researcher, or a surgeon and teacher. She figured she could be the “surgeon and writer.”
“It was important to me to earn the M.F.A. first and gain those skills so I could continue improving during medical training, which is much more challenging to interrupt,” she reasons.
She’s not only able to heal; she’s able to lay out the story of healing. She published her debut book last year in the middle of her residency. “Insensible Losses” draws from her own experiences that shaped her perspective on health.
“My hope is that by publishing and continuing to write, not only is it making my life much richer, but I can one day have a career that fully integrates writing and mentorship,” she says.
Medicine’s Many Perspectives
Rather than a collection of unrelated poems, Lew wanted everything in her book to relate to a common theme. “Insensible Losses” follows the journey of a person who was hospitalized then goes on to become a surgeon.
Lew went through a critical illness when she was younger. She says, “That affected how I think about interactions with my patients now, how I think about medicine and the human body. This book is a manifestation of what that transition looks like.”
The book includes some of her work done while at UNCG, but she began writing in earnest during medical school. Friends she made in the M.F.A. program read her poems and gave feedback.
Her poems carry many different tones, capturing the turbulent emotions experienced in both sickness and medical school. She also included poetic portraits of real, working female surgeons to show their wide range of personalities and approaches to care.
She worked on the book in earnest for five years, but her inspiration can be traced further. Just as a surgeon goes beneath the skin to see what’s happening in the body, poetry taught her how to peel away the layers in words and understand their deeper message.
Layered Meaning
It began while she was a student at Durham School of the Arts. When she first started, she had trouble fitting into its established programs.
“I had a terrible singing voice. I couldn’t play the piano that well, and I just didn’t fit into any of the arts classes,” she recalls. “And so, I asked if I could choose writing. I was the first student there to choose writing as an art major.”
While earning her undergraduate degree, she took creative writing courses every semester. Dr. Peter Cole, a professor of Jewish American poetry at Yale, helped her appreciate the layers of communication. “I’m also Jewish, and it’s in our tradition, a sort of shared language, to piece apart every word, every layer under the layer, and ask so many questions.”
Lew can apply these layers to medicine. She explains, “As a patient, you know your body and what you’re experiencing, the concern, excitement, and pain. But as a physician, you know the words behind it and why that is happening. There’s always layers to an experience.”
Understanding that is critical for a doctor, she says, to help a patient facing a challenging health decision. “Let’s say a patient is ineligible for an operation for this reason and this reason, and we talk to the patient about these reasons. That holds a lot more weight than just saying, ‘We’re not offering this surgery.'”
The Writing Craft: Finding Paper, Pen, and Practice
There are few creative writing graduate programs that offer the opportunities provided by UNCG, Lew says. “I wanted fully funded M.F.A.s that support you and give you an opportunity to learn, not just the writing and the editing, but also how to work in that space, whether you’re working in the Writing Center or acting as a teaching assistant or teaching classes.”
When choosing a graduate school, she also researched faculty authors. A chance to work with award-winning Associate Professor Emilia Phillips, M.F.A., became a key draw to UNCG’s Department of English.
“They’re fantastic and definitely have influenced how I write and how I think about writing,” she says.
She is particularly grateful that Phillips introduced her to Polish Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska, a writer who flipped the traditional advice about how to “show, don’t tell” in poetry. “She’s definitely ‘telling,’ but she’s ‘telling’ in such a compelling, clever way,” she says. “You can enter the middle of her scene, take a piece from that scene, and it can take on its own meaning in your life.”
Path to Published Poet
“Insensible Losses” may draw upon her life, but its subject matter is something in which many people can find meaning. As she points out, “Most folks have been patients, or their family members were patients at some point in their life.”
When describing the tone of the book, she says, “Overall, there’s this underlying current of hopefulness. But fear is also pervasive, which, as a patient and as a physician, is something that you really can experience.”
Nymeria Publishing, the company that accepted her manuscript, was a match made in heaven. “They let me have a ton of input on the cover, font, organization, and edits,” she says. “And their whole focus is uplifting under-represented voices and unique paths.”
She’s now focused on Year Three of her residency at Duke University, nearing the halfway point of a strenuous period of study. But Lew hopes that writing and publishing will always have a place in her life.
She also hopes many more aspiring authors will find their place in the writing space through UNCG. “M.F.A. programs that offer financial support with work that also advances your career are few and far between,” she says. “UNCG was a fantastic opportunity for me, and I met incredible people there. Many great writers come out of UNCG, and I hope that that program continues to be successful.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography courtesy of Joey Lew, M.D., Duke University
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