Since 2020, Healthcare is Human (HIH) has been telling authentic healthcare stories. 

Dr. Ryan McCarthy created HIH in Martinsburg, WV, to give voice to individuals who were under-represented as the COVID-19 pandemic began.  Since then, HIH has grown exponentially and is now a complex narrative medicine initiative. Writer, poet, and narrative medicine expert Renée K. Nicholson co-hosts the podcast. 

Molly Humphreys, native of Shepherdstown, WV, is the photographer on the project and has captured hundred of images of healthcare workers. Visit HIH on Facebook and Instagram to see these incredible photos . Molly's world class portfolio can be found by searching for Piccadilly Posh. 

Kym Mattioli produces the podcast. 

HIH is supported by a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council, WVU Foundation, and generous donors in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. 

Our first exhibit "Wild, Wonderful and Brave: Fighting the Pandemic in the Eastern Panhandle" ran at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, VA, from June 2022-June 2023. 

Our most recent exhibit was in the Pylons Commons at the Robert C. Byrd Health Science Center in Morgantown, WV, running September 2023 through June 2024. Dozens of the best photographs were featured alongside poetry by Marc Harshman, Torli Bush, Renée K. Nicholson, and Randi Ward. Our companion film, directed by Corwyn Garman, can be viewed inside the William A. Neal Museum. 

Original music for our films and museum exhibitions is composed by Robert Sears and Jared Sims. Isaac McCarthy plays the banjo on the podcast. 

Healthcare is Human has been featured in 100 Days in Appalachia, West Virginia Public Radio, Synapsis, INSider, KevinMD, and the Gold Foundation.  

A book is in development as is HIH curricula at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. HIH is a signature program of the WVU Internal Medicine Residency at the Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, WV. 

Find us on TED.com to hear our origin story.