About
Melissa J. Hogan is a licensed attorney and co-author of the book, “Afraid of the Doctor: Every Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Managing Medical Trauma” (www.afraidofthedoctor.com). She received her Juris Doctor with an emphasis in health law from the University of Pittsburgh and went on to clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, practice as a corporate/healthcare attorney, and teach legal writing and health care regulatory law. She founded and for many years led Project Alive, a research and advocacy foundation for Hunter syndrome, a rare genetic disease that affects her youngest son. She has appeared on The Doctors, Inside the NBA, and on numerous broadcasts raising awareness about rare diseases generally and Hunter syndrome in particular.
In addition to her book, Melissa writes and speaks in the areas of trauma and abuse, advocacy, and rare disease, has been published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and also serves as a Patient Representative to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and on the Family Advisory Council for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
Melissa is currently working on her next book, a memoir, in addition to collections of poetry and essays.
Featured Work
Afraid of the Doctor: Every Parent's Guide to Preventing and Managing Medical Trauma
Afraid of the Doctor: Every Parent's Guide to Preventing and Managing Medical Trauma is the first book written for parents with the primary goal of equipping them with the knowledge and skills to support their children through medical challenges. Medical trauma and anxiety and experiences in healthcare can profoundly affect a child’s response and willingness to even go to the doctor. Yet, the challenge of medical trauma is often under-recognized and overlooked in the healthcare system, leaving parents to learn about it and manage it on their own. When parents understand medical trauma and learn strategies to reduce and even prevent it, they become empowered to better care for their child’s emotional and physical health.
