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 with Dr. McCarthy.

Molly Humphreys, native of Shepherdstown, WV, is the project's photographer and has captured hundred of authentic images of healthcare workers. Visit HIH on Facebook and Instagram to see these incredible photos . Molly's world class commercial 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. 

Original music composed by Robert Sears and Jared Sims. Isaac McCarthy plays the banjo to open and close the podcast. 

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 latest exhibit is in the Pylons Commons at the Robert C. Byrd Health Science Center in Morgantown, WV, running through June 2024. Dozens of the best photographs are featured alongside poetry by Marc Harshman, Torli Bush, Renée K. Nicholson, and Randi Ward. Our companion film, directed by Corwyn Garman, can be viewed in the William A. Neal Museum. Made possible in part by the James M. Shumway and Lizbeth A. Pyle Health Humanities Fund, and the Betty Lou Ramsey and Effie Lucille Ramsey Fund. 

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. 

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