Hi, I'm Henry Bear.

And I'm Tyler Johnson.

And you're listening to The Doctors Art, a podcast that explores meaning in medicine.

Throughout our medical training and career, we have pondered.

What makes medicine meaningful?

Can a stronger understanding of this meaning

create better doctors?

How can we build health care institutions

that nurture the doctor-patient connection.

What can we learn about the human condition

from accompanying our patients in times of suffering?

In seeking answers to these questions,

we meet with deep thinkers working across health care, from doctors and nurses to patients and health care executives, those who have collected a career's worth of hard-earned wisdom.

Probing the moral heart that beats at the core of medicine, we will hear stories that are by turns heart-breaking, amusing, inspiring, challenging, and enlightening.

We welcome anyone curious about why doctors do what they do.

Join us as we think out loud about what illness and healing can teach us about some of life's biggest questions. In the first half of 2020, New York City quickly became the American epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic,

with over 200,000 cases reported in the first few months.

The bustling city came to a standstill

as thousands of people died alone in hospitals

and bodies piled up in freezer trucks that could not remove them fast enough.

Amid this raging fire, Dr. Dave Chakshi assumed position as New York City's health commissioner

and began the arduous task of preparing a broken city, restoring public trust among its residents,

...