Writing Contest
Alice Swenson, M.D.
By Kim Kiser
Who is Queen?
She is a composite of a lot of patients that I’ve had, of the pediatric patients who are critically ill, which is the minority of pediatric patients but a large part of what we see in residency. It’s always very unnatural to take care of a child who is dying or critically ill. It happens more than one would like.
What made you decide to write about a dying patient?
The thing that has the most emotional impact is critically ill children. It’s hard to come up with a poem about giving someone their six-month immunization, even though that’s the majority of and probably most important part of pediatrics—preventive medicine.
How did you get interested in writing?
My parents read to me a lot. Poetry, literature. I was pretty actively involved in writing poetry when I was in high school and college. I was editor of a literary magazine in high school and won some contests. I’m from New York, but I majored in English at Carleton College.
As an English major, what made you decide to go into medicine?
My dad is a doctor, and I resisted it. I was working at a clinic after college and fell in love with medicine. I thought I would kick myself if I didn’t try it.
Is writing a release?
It was a release when I was in high school and college. Adolescent angst lends itself to writing poetry. As I’ve gotten older, it’s become more difficult. You become more settled as a person, and you don’t have as much to release. I have a pretty happy life. I don’t find a lot of pain in my life. But sick children are always painful.
Do you write much these days?
I’ve been wanting to start writing again, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and write, especially with my 1-year-old daughter, Rachel. And it’s hard to take the time to see the poetry in the world when you’re working 80 hours a week. Also, it doesn’t feel very romantic when you’re at the hospital. You kind of divorce your emotions from the situation. It’s hard to make poems about things you try not to be emotionally attached to.
Why poetry?
I’ve never been good at writing anything other than poetry. I like the brevity of poetry. It comes naturally. It’s the way my thoughts come out when I want to express myself creatively.
Read "Queen"