In this talk, Dr. Fink recounts the events at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. Drawing audiences into the lives of the doctors and nurses who struggled to save lives amidst chaos, she raises the central question of the nation's preparedness for rare but foreseeable events. Her research and remarks on the tragedies that occurred at Memorial - and the ensuing investigation - raise ethical and legal questions, and throw into sharp relief some of the current issues around healthcare reform, justice, and liability.
Dr. Fink is winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, the Ridenhour Book Prize, the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Fink's news reporting has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Magazine Award, and the Overseas Press Club Lowell Thomas Award, among other journalism prizes. A former relief worker in disaster and conflict zones, Fink received her M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. Her first book, War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival, is about medical professionals under siege during the genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. She is a correspondent at the New York Times.
This event is co-sponsored by Phi Kappa Phi, Jaguar Productions, the College of Nursing, the College of Allied Health Professionals, the College of Engineering, Sigma Xi, the English Department, and the Psychology Department.
