MK Czerwiec

Unit 371 at Illinois Masonic Hospital was the first hospital unit in Chicago dedicated to serving AIDS patients plus their families and friends. At the height of the AIDS epidemic that's where MK Czerwiec began her nursing career.  Working on Unit 371 proved to be a challenging experience for Czerwiec and her colleagues. One coping skill Czerwiec found helpful was telling stories via comics. This eventually led to full-fledged graphic memoir of her time at Illinois Masonic, Taking Turns—Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371.  More books followed and Czerwiec began teaching graphic medicine at Northwestern University Medical School, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Illinois Medical School and the University of Chicago. In addition, she is an Artist-in-Residence at Northwestern's Center for Medical Humanities and Bioethics. In her own words, Czerwiec says, “I am a nurse who uses comics to reflect on the complexities of illness and caregiving.”

Why this stop? The Brown/Purple Lines stop at Wellington is right at Illinois Masonic Hospital.

Listen to MK Czerwiec speak about the usefulness of comics in education.