Physician, Writer, and Champion of Storytelling in Medicine
We’re honored to welcome Dr. Max Nanes to The Good Listening Project’s Board of Directors. Max is a hospice and palliative medicine physician with a background in emergency medicine, where he practiced before transitioning into his current role. With training in both medicine and creative writing, he brings a perspective that blends clinical practice and storytelling.
How would you describe the work that you do? What are your roles in your communities?
I’m a hospice and palliative medicine physician, and before this I spent seven years practicing emergency medicine. My background is also in English and creative writing – I studied it in college, and I also worked as a medical scribe in the emergency department. Emergency medicine is fast-paced and focused on quick diagnostics, but palliative care allows me to sit down, slow down, spend more time with patients and families, and help guide them through difficult decisions.
What is your relationship to writing?
During medical school, there were so many facts and so many concepts that I didn't have time to be creative, but I later joined colleagues in starting The Poor Historians: Medical History Misadventures, sharing humorous stories of medical history. That project reminded me that writing and storytelling can take many different forms.
When I experienced a Listener Poet session, what stuck with me is the value of a reflective space. Poetry as a form has never really resonated with me, but even for people like me who don’t connect with poetry, there are ways this work can still create meaningful reflection. Listening itself is what resonates most for me, and I’m excited about exploring other formats going forward, like bringing back The Good Listening Project podcast.
What first drew you to The Good Listening Project and how did that experience influence your decision to join the Board?
I work with a lot of dying patients, and I see very human traits among all of us. People like to tell their stories, and though not everybody wants to share them out loud, many still want their story to go on. Especially now, when healthcare workers are feeling dehumanized and burnout rates are so high, it matters to have a place to be listened to and have some sort of voice.
What impact do you hope your involvement with The Good Listening Project will have?
I experienced burnout firsthand from working in emergency medicine, and one of the things I wanted, after I healed, was to help others heal. It felt important to find a way to combat the parts of the system that had made me feel that way – a way to fight back. Projects that bring humanity back to medicine matter to me, even within giant systems that can’t easily change. Through this work, I feel I can reclaim my own voice and help folks who have been affected by burnout do the same. It’s an avenue to take back some control. If something I help create here makes life better for someone else who is suffering, I can live with that. More than anything, I want to be a force for good.