Dr. Hanna Saltzman, a Rowland Hall alumna, is integrating her work as a pediatric rheumatologist, a published author, and an environmental advocate into a single professional triad. Saltzman described her professional life as a combination of these three roles that provide meaning and purpose.
Saltzman's interest in writing began in childhood and was nurtured during her 10th-grade year at Rowland Hall by teachers Kody Partridge and Joel Long. While she focused on grassroots environmental organizing during college before attending medical school at the University of Michigan, she found writing became a necessary coping mechanism during her medical training. She noted that writing allows her the space to reflect and pause, which helps her avoid the pitfalls of the fast pace of medicine.
Her writing often bridges her medical expertise with her environmental concerns. In the Virginia Quarterly Review, she published Rays of Wonder: Grappling with the Paradox of Do No Harm, which explores the complexities of medical practice. Additionally, her essay Spiraling Toward Yes is featured in the anthology The Once and Future Lake: Stories for Great Salt Lake. This anthology also includes work by her former teacher, Joel Long.
Saltzman's environmental advocacy is informed by her view of human physiology as part of an ecosystem. She has noted that what is in the environment affects humans and that humans affect their environments. Her essay in the Great Salt Lake anthology reflects on the changing waters near the Spiral Jetty, a location she first visited during a creative writing class led by Long.
Saltzman is currently pursuing an MFA in nonfiction writing through Pacific University. While balancing her medical fellowship and motherhood, she is preparing to turn her collected writings into a book.
