Interview with Francesca Decker

“I’m sad it’s over, this program really was such an indulgent pleasure, but excited about the doors it has opened!”

Why the Media and Medicine Certificate of Completion Program?

“I am a family doctor and a professional actor with a passion for writing, and a commitment to public health and education.  When COVID hit, I found myself digging into all of my skills to educate people about the virus and its numerous implications. For years, I’ve said that I’m interested in the intersection of health, entertainment, education, and policy.  It’s an intersection many people don’t recognize and has involved a lot of me trying to find my own path, so when I stumbled across this program, I was thrilled, and was particularly looking forward to the opportunity to talk to and learn from Neal Baer.  He is a physician who has left his mark on the entertainment industry and understands its power to change lives on both a small and large scale.”

Storytelling is a form of communication that’s resonated with Francesca since she was a child. “I have always loved listening to and telling stories.  As clinicians, we listen to other peoples’ stories all day.  As a chief resident and physician, I have studied and witnessed the immense power of stories to help people care about, understand, and remember ideas better than facts ever can.  This is why entertainment as a medium can be so powerful.  TV, film, theatre, and social media all make abstract concepts personal, and can inspire changes in attitudes, public perception, and ultimately policy.  This is true across all topics, not just medicine, science and health.”

How was your experience in the program?

“The initial week was incredible.  I felt like I’d been knocking on doors for years, unsure how to open them, and that week handed me a massive set of keys."

The overall course was intense!  I had just moved across the country, and during the course of the program, I started a new job as a physician and a new position in a public health consulting company.  I wanted to have more time to really sit with the materials and to talk to all the amazing people involved.  But as it was, I was grateful to have regular writing dates with a group of other writers, to be published as part of two different COVID-related group op-eds, to co-organize and co-moderate a Clubhouse event featuring Kavita Patel and other influential physicians, and to write a short play about the mental health of moms during the pandemic.  I am excited about the first drafts, ideas and relationships I’ve built over these past six months and am looking forward to seeing where they lead in the future.”

Were there any surprises along the way?

“I was really grateful to have Neal make himself available to me for several one-on-one meetings during the program.  That was such a generous gift.  I also was inspired by the range, talent and brilliance of the speakers and my fellow classmates, but that was not a surprise.  That was what I signed up for!”

Both personally and professionally, Francesca has noticed tangible ways the course has impacted her life. “I’m a little braver at pitching my ideas and feel more confident of how to do so.  After working on my first op-ed with a group from the program, I pitched a piece about counseling COVID-vaccine-hesitant patients for the New York State Family Physician, which is our state Family Medicine journal.  And it was accepted!  I just turned it in this weekend, and I would not have had the confidence and courage to pitch that topic if not for this program.  I’m excited to pitch more writing, and other media, as I move forward.  I also just started a position with a public health consulting company, and they are very excited about my experience in this program, so I’m looking forward to that as a new opportunity.”

And as for the future…

“I will be submitting my short play to the Hollywood Fringe Festival and plan to perform it with a talented actor-friend of mine.  Neal and I also discussed Hollywood Health and Society, which is an organization I’d like to work with. 

I have a few other projects I have to tend to first, but in the next months, I definitely plan to do a lot more writing, hopefully to get to a point where I’m a regular contributor on issues of health and wellness.  Also, at some point, I’ll start doing some medical cartoons!  I bought a new stylus early on in the program but haven’t had time to really indulge in that yet.  But I expect that the lessons and relationships from this class will be having reverberations through my work and life for years to come.  I can’t wait!”