Title:Alumnus connects writing, medicine careers in new book

As an undergraduate at Georgetown, Ricardo Nuila (C’00) studied pre-med but majored in English.

Now, working as an internist in Houston, he’s bringing both career goals to fruition. His new nonfiction book The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine explores what the medical system is like for five patients at a Houston hospital who don’t have insurance. The book chronicles their experiences from diagnosis through treatment, and includes socio-historical background on national and local health policy.

Growing up with a physician father and attending Catholic and Jesuit schools, Nuila learned early the power of serving others, particularly while volunteering and working in countries like Brazil and India throughout his life.

“I feel like I owe so much to my education at Georgetown,” Nuila says. Conflicted about which career to pursue after he got into medical school, Nuila sought guidance from Georgetown Professor of English John Glavin following his scriptwriting course. Glavin urged Nuila to pursue medicine but not give up on writing. “He said, ‘You can go to graduate school, in writing or in English, and learn technique. But where will you get your stories from? In medicine, you will find your stories,’” Nuila recalls.

While he particularly enjoyed writing the patient narratives in his book, he found it more difficult to concisely break down and explain the complicated histories and background.

Being both a writer and a physician has been a balancing act for Nuila, first at Georgetown and later as a medical resident, when he would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to write for two hours before work. But that activity helped him process the stress and intensity of residency.

“To me, medicine and writing to me are one thing,” Nuila says. “When I’m working on my writing, I’m working on being a better doctor as well.”