Poet-in-Residence
Preston Medical Library & Consumer and Patient Health Information Services
Donna Doyle
Poet-in-Residence
Supervisor
djdoyle@utmck.edu
Direct Line:
865-305-8776
“There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go.”
~Author Unknown~
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
~World Health Organization, 1948~
The University of Tennessee Medical Center and the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine together provide the only academic medical center in our region. To accomplish their primary goals of healing, education and discovery, the medical center has assembled a cadre of outstanding clinicians and scientists. These individuals utilize the latest medical technology to provide their customers with the area’s finest in patient healthcare outcomes, patient safety, and translation of research discovery results.
As an academic institution, the medical center readily embraces the concept that wellness is more than absence of physical disease. It is multidimensional and includes - but is not limited to - physical, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, and occupational factors. To ensure the wellness of their customers, the medical center offers several programs including Pastoral Care, the Healing Garden, and programs in complimentary and integrative medicine. Preston Medical Library and Health Information Center has long been an essential anchor for the success of the medical center’s patient care, academic and holistic mission.
It is well recognized that the expressive arts have been used in healing and promoting a state of well-being since the beginning of socialization. Poetry is included in the expressive arts. Both the reading and the writing of poetry, promotes the existence of positive health in individuals as exemplified by quality of life. We are fortunate to have an accomplished poet in our midst as Poet-in-Residence at Preston Medical Library.
When Donna Doyle joined the Preston Medical Library team in 2008, she already had several poetry awards and publications to her credit. In addition to her responsibilities as Poet-in-Residence, Donna serves as evening/weekend supervisor, Consumer Health Information Specialist, and communications coordinator for the library. Donna also assists Dr. Ronald Lands with the Narrative Medicine component of medical student and residency education at UTGSM which is physically based in Preston Medical Library conference facilities.
Since 2009, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has published six of Donna’s poems. CHEST has been added to her recent publication credits. In addition to her medically-themed writing and journal publications, Donna’s work has been anthologized in All Around Us: Poems from the Valley, Breathing the Same Air, Literary Lunch, Migrants & Stowaways, Low Explosions: Writings on the Body, Outscape: Writings on Fences and Frontiers, Knoxville Bound, Southern Poetry Anthology Volume III: Contemporary Appalachia; MOTIF 3, and is forthcoming in Southern Poetry Anthology: Tennessee. As a finalist in Finishing Line Press’s New Women’s Voices competition, her chapbook Heading Home was awarded publication.
In her role as Poet-in-Residence at Preston Medical Library, Donna utilizes the library as a focal point for integrating poetry and other expressive arts into the medical center community. Her goal is to nurture engagement in the arts by hosting events and exhibits at the Preston Medical Library, thereby helping us all appreciate this aspect of integrative medicine.
Some of Donna's work:
"Stroke"
"The Kiss"
"Storm Damage"
"Intensive Care"
"Rescue"
"Family Doctor"
Quick Links
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
Preston Medical Library
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
UT Medical Center
1924 Alcoa Highway
Knoxville, Tennessee 37920-6999
(865) 305-9525
Fax: (865) 305-9527
Text: (865) 262-8920
library@utmck.edu