Nicole (Nikki) St Clair
Credentials: MD, MS
Position title: Associate Professor
Email: nstclair@wisc.edu
Website: Department of Pediatrics

As healthcare providers, we are trained to provide medical care, but there is very little focus on preparing us for the overwhelming and often messy intersections of joy, despair, fragility, futility, fallibility, exhaustion, frustration, compassion, fear, flailing, and fulfilment that we will experience in our careers. We aren’t just observers of our patients—we are, as Paul Farmer described, “accompagnateurs,” stepping inside patients’ experiences and accompanying them through their worst moments with empathy and expertise. Without tools to help process their (and our) journeys, we greatly increase our risk of burnout and compassion fatigue. As a Pediatric Hospitalist and Global Health Educator, I am grateful for the various facets of Medical Humanities that encourage and empower clinicians to reflect on, process, and share their impactful experiences.