image of Suzanne Koven

Suzanne Koven, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Suzanne Koven received her B.A. in English literature from Yale and her M.D. from Johns Hopkins. She also holds an M.F.A. in nonfiction from the Bennington Writing Seminars. After her residency training and chief residency in medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and practiced primary care internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital for over 30 years. She is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and holds the Valerie Winchester Family Endowed Chair in Primary Care Medicine at Mass General.  In 2019 she was named inaugural Writer in Residence at Mass General. Her essays, articles, blogs, and reviews have appeared in The Boston Globe, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, NewYorker.com, Psychology Today, The L.A. Review of Books, The Virginia Quarterly, STAT, and other publications. Her monthly column “In Practice” appeared in The Boston Globe and won the Will Solimene Award for Excellence in Medical Writing from the American Medical Writers Association. At HMS Dr. Koven co-created and co-directs the Media and Medicine certificate program at and teaches in the Media, Medicine and Health masters program. She speaks to a wide variety of audiences on literature and medicine and the role of women in medicine. Her essay collection, Letter to a Young Female Physician, was published by W.W. Norton & Co. in 2021. Her memoir, The Mirror Box, will be published by W.W. Norton in 2026.

Reading Kafka in the Hospital Cafeteria.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
N Engl J Med
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Pregnancy and Residency - Overdue for Equity.
Authors: Authors: Koven S, Haberer JE, Gomez Kwolek D.
N Engl J Med
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The Portal.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
N Engl J Med
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The Discomfort Zone.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
Chest
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Things shameful to be spoken about.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
Lancet
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They Call Us and We Go.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
N Engl J Med
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Admissions.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
Lancet
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Off the Charts.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
Am J Med
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Letter to a Young Female Physician.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
N Engl J Med
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The Doctor's New Dilemma.
Authors: Authors: Koven S.
N Engl J Med
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