Hey everyone, it's Emily. Just wanted to drop you a quick reminder that the nocturness is going to be at South by Southwest this year.

We're really excited to be presenting a panel on the theme of shame and medicine on Sunday, March 12th at 1130 a.m. Austin, Texas time.

So if anybody listening is going to be at South by Southwest, we invite you to come to our panel.

We'd love to meet you, and don't forget to tell your friends.

Now on to the episode.

Support for the Nocturnist comes from the California Medical Association.

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Details may have been changed to ensure patient confidentiality.

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You're listening to The Nocturnousous conversations. I'm Emily Silverman.

As healthcare workers, we have so many amazing tools at our disposal. We have medications,

procedures, surgeries, even narratives and data and counseling that we use to help people

with their health. But the scary thing is, having these tools

means we can also cause way more harm

than we ever could have before we enter the profession.

We have to be constantly checking ourselves.

Are we doing the right thing?

Are we helping? Are we harming?

Especially when there are so many examples

from past and present

of medicine inflicting harm on people. One of those examples is the story of the Ralph

sisters, two poor black girls in Alabama who were sterilized against their will by a federally

...