What happens when medical training meets poetic practice? For Anushka Shah, a fourth-year MD candidate, Class of 2026, at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, it became an opportunity to explore—and elevate—the human experiences often left unspoken in critical care.
Shah is the creator of Critical, a new documentary poetry project that pairs students with Katz physicians to explore complex themes like grief, burnout, and healing through verse. The initiative grew from her background in creative writing and a deepening interest in how art can offer new perspectives on patient care.
“From my past creative writing education, I learned about and became interested in documentary poetry,” Shah explains, “a form that uses historical research, interviews, archival material, and entwines these sources with lyric voice to witness, to give second life to, and to hold a mirror to histories, past to current.”
She credits poet Julia Kasdorf and The Frontlines Project—a documentary poetry collaboration between NYC-area poets and physicians working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic—as a key influence. “It was the first example of documentary poetry I had seen that involved physicians,” Shah says. “It inspired me to think about how this form could be used to honor the experiences of those working in critical care right here at Temple.”
The name Critical carries layered meaning, she notes. “It refers both to the type of illness and care the physicians are engaged in, and to the importance of the narratives that come out of this work.”
With assistance from Naomi Rosenberg, MD, Assistant Dean for Narrative Medicine and Health Humanities at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Shah created Critical to record and preserve narratives of Katz physicians treating critically ill patients. Each workshop participant—a group of medical and MFA students—was assigned to interview a physician in depth. The interviews then formed the foundation for original poetry produced by the students, meshing research and narrative to highlight the human elements of healthcare.
This inspired Shah and Rosenberg to invite Hakim Bellamy, an award-winning poet, educator, and law student, to visit Katz and lead a writing workshop as part of the Life in Medicine speaker series. An initiative within the school’s Narrative Medicine program led by Rosenberg, the series aims to explore how creativity and the arts can deepen reflection, meaning, and human connection in clinical care. Bellamy’s unique blend of artistic and professional experience aligned well with the project’s focus on the intersection of storytelling and science.
“Dr. Rosenberg and I wanted a poet who had experience with documentary poetry and could also connect with students navigating professional paths. Hakim was the perfect fit—he’s a dynamic poet, a skilled teacher, and also a law student who understands what it means to live a creative and professional life,” Shah says.
Bellamy’s visit included both the workshop and a public event, where he performed his poetry and shared reflections on healing, advocacy, and creative expression in the context of medical care.
The project offered students a rare opportunity to pause, reflect, and connect with the lived experiences of physicians at Temple. “I hope the participants gained a better understanding of documentary poetry and how impactful it can be,” Shah says. “But more importantly, I hope they came away with new insight into what it really means to do critical care, and to live a life in and beyond medicine.”
For Shah, the process of launching and participating in Critical was deeply personal—and transformative. “As much as I have studied documentary poetry, this was my first time actually trying my hand at the form,” she reflects. “It gave me insight into how powerful this kind of writing can be in capturing someone’s voice and contextualizing the dimensions of an issue.”
Through her own interviews and writing, Shah says she felt both inspired and sobered about the road ahead. “I feel motivated to be present and curious about my patients so I can provide the best care possible. But I’m also apprehensive—about the structural violence that will make it hard for my patients to stay healthy, and the systems that could make it hard for me to give them the time and compassion they deserve.”
Even so, Shah remains hopeful. “I believe connecting with people through medical care is a sacred thing,” she says. “And I hope that poetry, especially documentary poetry, will be one of the tools I can use—not only for reflection, but also for advocacy and change.”