“What a critical life lesson: to learn to distinguish enabling from helping, codependence from love, attachment to reenacting the grief of childhood loss from allowing for the sweetness of self-determination.”
—Michele Harper, The Beauty in Breaking
2022 Gold Foundation National Humanism in Medicine Medal
Former Chief Medical Advisor for Betr Remedies
Dr. Michele Harper is an award-winning physician, New York Times bestselling author, and nationally recognized speaker whose work centers on individual healing and social justice. She is an advocate of personal wellness and evolution as a foundation for collective liberation.
In her best-selling memoir, The Beauty in Breaking, Dr. Harper shares her journey from an abusive childhood home to hectic ERs in New York City and Philadelphia as a Black female doctor—a demanding position in a profession that is still, today, overwhelmingly male and White. She describes how her own healing and that of patients she encountered along the way show we are all healing from something, and how, if we make the choice to heal ourselves, we can heal each other and society at large.
A New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback editions, The Beauty in Breaking is also a Los Angeles Times and Laura Bush Book Club pick, a Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick, a Book of the Month Club selection, and on the New York Times 2020 list of 100 Notable Books. The book is included among Barnes & Noble Best Medical Books and Amazon’s 100 Best Books of 2020.
The Beauty in Breaking was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. It was also selected for Oprah’s Book Club’s top summer memoir reads and Oprah’s Daily’s selections for top memoirs in 2022.
Dr. Harper’s writing has also been featured in Zora and Elemental on Medium.com, and The Cut.
A popular speaker on healing from trauma, cultivating hope and transformation in difficult times, and health equity, Dr. Harper has appeared at Yale University, the University of California San Diego, the University of Texas San Antonio, the Society of Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the American College of Surgeons, as well as Kaiser, Womanspace, T-Mobile, and Microsoft. She has also appeared as a commentator for MSNBC, NBC, ABC, and Cheddar networks, and on many popular podcasts.
Dr. Harper received her BA in Psychology from Harvard University and her MD from the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook. She is a proud graduate of the Lincoln Medical & Mental Health Center emergency medicine residency program in the South Bronx, where she received the Joel Gernsheimer Award for excellence in emergency medicine.
She is deeply honored to have received the Gold Foundation National Humanism in Medicine Medal in 2022. Her advocacy for equity in medicine includes having served as chief medical advisor for Betr Remedies, a company dedicated to providing affordable medications to all. Dr. Harper’s ongoing efforts include mentoring medical students and residents across the country and volunteering with STEM students from low-income communities, as well as her public speaking and forthcoming literary work.
Dr. Harper currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area. Loves of her life include yoga, coffee, and moments of brilliance. Plus…she will travel for art.