Rheum After 5: Dr. Usman Malik on the Art of Writing

“My book is set on that border and brings in the echo of that history,” Dr. Malik says, adding that a plague isolates the main characters from the rest of the world and “things happen.”

As a self-taught writer, Dr. Malik is represented by a New York agent, something many writers can only dream of, and has attended and also taught more than a dozen writing workshops and seminars over the past decade.

Within the next decade, he hopes to complete a few more novels, which may reflect medieval history. He says his current reading obsession is with the Moors of Spain, who were Muslims living in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal).

Reignite the Spark

Meanwhile, he reflects on burnout, saying rheumatologists and other physicians may be losing their “spark.”

“It’s a rat race,” Dr. Malik says, referring to the idea that a physician’s success is mostly based on their income and how many peer-reviewed articles they have published. “I want success to have a different barometer.”

He believes the humanities can help.

“Literature and the arts can make physicians kinder, and more compassionate and empathetic toward their patients,” says Dr. Malik. “Writing has done that for me.”

Carol Patton is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas.