Since 2020, Healthcare Is Human (HIH) has been telling authentic stories from healthcare. The interdisciplinary health humanities project was created by Dr. Ryan McCarthy in Martinsburg, WV, to give voice to individuals who were underrepresented as the Covid-19 Pandemic began. The early iterations of the project included the work of portrait photographer Molly Humphreys, a native of Shepherdstown, WV, who captures hundreds of images of healthcare workers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Humphrey’s visual storytelling became an integral part of HIH project. The photos, paired with podcasts hosted by Dr. McCarthy and Renée K. Nicholson, writer, poet, and narrative medicine expert, and produced by audio engineer Kym Mattioli, bring together oral storytelling, visual storytelling, original poetry, and also features original music by Isaac McCarthy, who is pursing is PhD in Musicology at Ohio State University. Molly Humphrey’s photographic work included in this exhibit was created post-pandemic as the HIH project grew to include more under-told stories from the Berkeley Medical Center and the WVU Health Sciences Eastern Campus. Humphreys strives to portray healthcare professionals in the context of the work they perform to ensure the wellbeing of residents in the Eastern Panhandle. These vital artifacts of the project tell a visual story to enhance medical education, promote empathy, and provide therapeutic outlets for practitioners. It bridges the gap between clinical science and the human experience in service to the care of others. 

• Text by Renée K. Nicholson and Ryan McCarthy of Healthcare is Human