Sherwin B. Nuland
Encyclopedia
Dr. Sherwin Nuland is an American surgeon
and author who teaches bioethics
, history of medicine
, and medicine
at the Yale University School of Medicine and, upon occasion, bioethics
and history of medicine
at Yale College. He is the author of The New York Times
bestseller and National Book Award
winning How We Die, and has also written for The New Yorker
, The New York Times, The New Republic
, Time
, and the New York Review of Books. Perhaps his greatest work, however, is his unforgettable first-generation American autobiography of his own painful coming of age as a son of immigrants, "Lost in America: A Journey with My Father." He is both a fellow and board member of the Hastings Center
, an independent bioethics research institution.
, in December 1930 to immigrant Jewish parents Meyer and Vitsche Nudelman. Although raised in a traditional Orthodox Jewish home, Sherwin now considers himself agnostic, but continues to attend synagogue
.
Nuland is a graduate of New York University
and Yale School of Medicine
, where he obtained his M.D.
degree and also completed a residency
in surgery
. He currently resides in Connecticut
with his second wife Sarah. He has four children, two from each marriage. His daughter Victoria Nuland
, is the former U.S.
ambassador
to NATO.
In a 2001 TED
talk, which was released in Oct 2007, Nuland spoke of his severe depression
and obsessive thoughts in the early 1970s, probably caused by his difficult childhood and the dissolution of his first marriage. As drug therapy remained ineffective, a lobotomy
was planned, but his treating resident suggested electroshock therapy
instead, leading to ultimate recovery.
Nuland is also one of the featured lecturers at One Day University
.
In 2005, Dr. Nuland produced a series of lectures for the Teaching Company on the history of Western medicine titled Doctors: The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed Through Biography.
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
and author who teaches bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
, history of medicine
History of medicine
All human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods...
, and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the Yale University School of Medicine and, upon occasion, bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
and history of medicine
History of medicine
All human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods...
at Yale College. He is the author of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestseller and National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
winning How We Die, and has also written for The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, The New York Times, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, and the New York Review of Books. Perhaps his greatest work, however, is his unforgettable first-generation American autobiography of his own painful coming of age as a son of immigrants, "Lost in America: A Journey with My Father." He is both a fellow and board member of the Hastings Center
Hastings Center
The Hastings Center, founded in 1969, is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit bioethics research institute based in the United States. It is dedicated to the examination of essential questions in health care, biotechnology, and the environment...
, an independent bioethics research institution.
Biography
Nuland was born in the Bronx, New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in December 1930 to immigrant Jewish parents Meyer and Vitsche Nudelman. Although raised in a traditional Orthodox Jewish home, Sherwin now considers himself agnostic, but continues to attend synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
.
Nuland is a graduate of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and Yale School of Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
The Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813....
, where he obtained his M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
degree and also completed a residency
Residency (medicine)
Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...
in surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. He currently resides in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
with his second wife Sarah. He has four children, two from each marriage. His daughter Victoria Nuland
Victoria Nuland
Victoria Nuland is the spokesperson for the United States Department of State.-Career:In Summer 2011, Nuland became the State Department Spokesperson...
, is the former U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to NATO.
In a 2001 TED
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
talk, which was released in Oct 2007, Nuland spoke of his severe depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and obsessive thoughts in the early 1970s, probably caused by his difficult childhood and the dissolution of his first marriage. As drug therapy remained ineffective, a lobotomy
Lobotomy
Lobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
was planned, but his treating resident suggested electroshock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
instead, leading to ultimate recovery.
Nuland is also one of the featured lecturers at One Day University
One Day University
One Day University is an adult education program founded by Steven Schragis and John Galvin in 2006. The program's one-day sessions feature four or five lectures by leading American university professors. Originally based in the New York City area, the program has spread to Boston, Philadelphia,...
.
In 2005, Dr. Nuland produced a series of lectures for the Teaching Company on the history of Western medicine titled Doctors: The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed Through Biography.
Books
- The Soul of Medicine (New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2009) ISBN 1607140551
- The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being (New York: Random House, 2007) ISBN 1400064775
- The Doctors' Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis (New York: W.W. Norton, 2003) ISBN 0393052990
- Doctors: The Biography of Medicine (New York: Knopf, 1988) ISBN 0679760091
- How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter (New York: Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 1994) ISBN 0679414614
- How We Live (New York: Vintage Books, 1998) [originally published as The Wisdom of the Body in 1997] ISBN 0099767619
- Leonardo Da Vinci (Penguin Lives) (New York: Viking, 2000) ISBN 0670893919
- Lost in America: A Journey with My Father (New York: Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2003) ISBN 0375412948
- Maimonides (Jewish Encounters) (New York: Nextbook: Schocken, 2005) ISBN 0805242007
- Medicine: The Art of Healing (New York : Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc. : Distributed by Macmillan, 1992) ISBN 0883632926
- The Mysteries Within: A Surgeon Explores Myth, Medicine, and the Human Body (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000) ISBN 0684854864
- The Wisdom of the Body (New York: Knopf, 1997) ISBN 0679444076
- The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine (New York: Random House, 2008) ISBN 1400064783
External links
- Sherwin B. Nuland tells his life story (video)
- Interview with Nuland concerning his book Maimonides
- Sherwin Nuland's 2001 TEDTalk, on the history of electroshock therapy and his personal experience with severe depression
- Sherwin Nuland vs. Aubrey de Grey in a clip from the documentary, HOW TO LIVE FOREVER