155. Hannah Wunsch – Generosity in Healthcare: Learning from History

“This is very much an origin story for an entire specialty in medicine, critical care. …and to see how far we’ve come really does make one stop and appreciate what we take for granted a lot of the time, which is modern medical care.”

Hannah Wunsch is a critical care doctor and Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medicine

Born in Boston and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Hannah attended Harvard College, graduating with a BA in Biology. She attended Washington University School of Medicine and received a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She completed an anesthesia residency and critical care fellowship at Columbia University. She was on faculty in the Department of Anesthesiology at Columbia and then at the University of Toronto where she held a Canada Research Chair, before moving to Weill Cornell Medicine in 2023.

Hannah holds research funding from the NIH, US Department of Defence and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Her work focuses on the delivery and outcomes of critical care using large databases. Her research has been published in The Lancet, JAMA, BMJ and many specialty journals.

Hannah is the author of the book The Autumn Ghost: How the Battle Against a Polio Epidemic Revolutionized Modern Medical Care. Her writing has also appeared in The Globe & Mail, The Literary Review of Canada, McSweeney’s, and other journals. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and the village of Woods Hole on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

R.O.G. Takeaway Tips:

• Be willing to hear other opinions.
• Have the courage to speak up.
• Gain appreciation for your community – and contribute to it.
• Check in with people. Support others. 
• Equity, diversity and inclusion are critical.

Resources:

• About Hannah Wunsch 
• The Autumn Ghost with Hannah Wunsch

Where to find R.O.G. Podcast:

R.O.G on YouTube

R.O.G on Apple Podcasts

R.O.G on Spotify

How diverse is your network? 
N.D.I. Network Diversity Index

What is your Generosity Style? 
Generosity Quiz

Credits:

Hannah Wunsch, Sheep Jam Productions, Host Shannon Cassidy, Bridge Between, Inc.

Coming Next: Please join us next week, Episode 156, with Daisy Auger-Domínguez.