Writing about medicine and people, the good and the bad

William Cooke, MD, discusses why he chose to write about his experience as the town physician of Austin, Indiana. He has received national attention and accolades for working there when the opioid epidemic led to a local HIV epidemic. He described his experiences in his book, “Canary in the Coal Mine: A Forgotten Rural Community, A Hidden Epidemic, and a Lone Doctor Battling for the Life, Health, and Soul of the People.”