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  • Sometimes Amazing Things Happen

  • Heartbreak and Hope on the Bellevue Hospital Psychiatric Prison Ward
  • By: Elizabeth Ford MD
  • Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
  • Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (46 ratings)

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Sometimes Amazing Things Happen cover art

Sometimes Amazing Things Happen

By: Elizabeth Ford MD
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
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Publisher's Summary

Elizabeth Ford went through medical school unsure of where she belonged. It wasn't until she did her psychiatry rotation that she found her calling - to care for one of the most vulnerable populations of mentally ill people, the inmates of New York City's jails, including Rikers Island, who are so sick that they are sent to the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward for care.

These men were broken, without resources or support, and very ill. They could be violent, unpredictable, but they could also be funny and tender and needy. Mostly, they were human and they awakened in Ford a boundless empathy. Her patients made her a great doctor and a better person. While Ford was a psychiatrist at Bellevue she became a wife and a mother. In her book she shares her struggles to balance her personal and professional lives, to care for her children and her patients, and to maintain the empathy that is essential to her practice - all in the face of a complex institution, an exhausting workload, and the deeply emotionally taxing nature of her work. Ford brings humor, grace, and humanity to the lives of the patients in her care and in beautifully rendered prose illuminates the inner workings (and failings) of our mental health and criminal justice systems.

©2017 Elizabeth Ford (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Sometimes Amazing Things Happen

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Very interesting

Thought provoking and interesting. A different perspective. Raw and honest stories from the frontline. Recommend

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Outstanding!

This is a truly riveting story. It is so engaging that I had to keep reminding myself its contents are true. From tears, to anger, joy and back to tears, then joy again! I was so engrossed from start to finish. This is honestly one of best books I have ever completed in my life, well written, well performed and authentic to the struggles of mental illness and adult dis-regulation due to infancy and childhood maltreatment. Dr Ford presents the issues in an engaging, hopeful and truly refreshing way. Instead of a clinical approach, she has focussed on authentic human facets and out-workings of the problems. Dr. Ford, you are truly a remarkable woman. I am inspired and encouraged. Thank you for sharing this part of your journey.

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