Gary Birken, MD ’78, is a man of many interests, occupying his time with hobbies that range from athletics to flying airplanes. Atop his list of various pursuits sits his passion for writing medical thrillers. With eight published novels under his belt, Dr. Birken, a recently retired pediatric surgeon, takes great pride in his authorship. His stories have touched upon topics such as fetal surgery, malpractice, national health insurance and hospital errors.
“I begin a new novel by trying to select an interesting medical topic, which I then use as the framework to weave a story of suspense,” explained Dr. Birken. “I generally start the process with a beginning, middle and end of a plotline. Once I have that ‘what if’ in mind, I embark on a first draft. The process continues by continuously airbrushing and revising the first draft until the manuscript is completed. It’s easy to understand why many authors believe that good novels are not written — they’re rewritten over and over again until the author is finally satisfied with the manuscript.”
Dr. Birken finds inspiration for his ideas from many areas of medicine including his own personal experiences as a pediatric surgeon. But as a guiding principle, he believes that a thriller writer should not use their novel to express their personal views on controversial political or ethical topics.
“My approach to novel writing is not to use my books as a means to take a stance on an issue or moralize. To the contrary, my goal is to simply entertain while at the same time providing the reader with basic knowledge about a current medical topic.”
Nowadays, Dr. Birken is immersed in the writing community. He especially enjoys teaching at fiction writers’ conferences. This includes passing down advice to aspiring writers by sharing his experiences pursuing the craft of fiction writing. According to Dr. Birken, “Elements of writing such as creating dialogue, plot development and revealing characters are key elements of a craft that can always be improved upon by any of us who enjoys setting pen to paper.”
“The key to thriller writing is getting your reader to want to keep turning the pages to find out what’s going to happen next.”
He concludes, “To me, the key to thriller writing is getting your reader to want to keep turning the pages to find out what’s going to happen next.”
When Dr. Birken was a busy pediatric surgeon, writing served as a form of stress reduction. He greatly valued spending time at a coffee shop or library to zone into his hobby. Writing, if only for a couple of hours, transported him into a stress-free mental space and continues to do so.
Through the course of his career, Dr. Birken was fortunate to hold various administrative positions, but the one he was most proud of was the seven years preceding his retirement when he helped create a Physician Wellness Program. Dr. Birken recalled, “We spent considerable time working with our administration looking at and enhancing the physician experience.”
“Our goal as healthcare providers is to assure excellence in patient care. I don’t feel we can effectively do that if our sole focus is on the patient experience. Some of our attention must be directed at initiatives specifically designed to optimize the physician experience as well.”
Sabreen Alfadel is a staff writer with the RFU Division of Marketing and Brand Management, specializing in content development for social media efforts and initiatives.