R .L. Burke was born in Louisville, Kentucky, where she graduated with a double major in Theatre and English from the University of Louisville. She currently lives and writes in the Atlanta Metro area. Her story, “The Invitation,” was runner-up in the “Set Stories Free” national short-story competition sponsored by the Public Library Association and has now been picked up for international distribution.  She is the winner of the Leo Frank Case national playwriting competition for her play, Monster, and her play, Tempest in the Golden Glow Tea Room, is an Ethel Woolson Recipient. You can read her science fiction fantasy book series, I Am Human, available on Amazon.

Read "Bedside Betty" 

A science-fiction fan since before he could read (thanks to his father for the bedtime stories of ’40s and ’50s SF), James Dodds spent the early part of his career as a technical writer, producing a shelf-full of software user manuals that nobody in their right mind would ever read.

For the last twenty years, he has worked as a system analyst in medical IT. An English major suddenly thrust into the clinical world, he had a rough start. Most of his team members are nurses who enjoyed how he pronounced words such as emesis (“uh-MEE-sis”) and IV parenteral (“Ivy pair-un-TARE-ul”).  He got his feet under himself in time to weather the withering anger of doctors and nurses as they went live with new electronic medical record systems at 2 a.m. (“Where are my orders?”).

Years of working directly with clinical staff on the floor have shown him that technology’s potential to improve patient care has barely been tapped. He is convinced that future advances in medical and computer science will give man tools to vastly improve health and well-being. He remains skeptical that America’s current health coverage system will let those tools be available for all who need them.

From Jules Verne’s submarines and flights to the moon to Arthur C. Clark’s network of satellites providing instant global communication, science fiction has always predicted the future with amazing accuracy. James hopes his story remains just that—a story.

James has been writing fiction for the last few years. He lives near Spokane, WA with his lovely wife Robin and their amazing dog Ginger.

Read "Bitter Medicine"

By day, Cindy is a mild-mannered writer for the Office of Institutional Advancement at Thomas Jefferson University/Jefferson Health; by night, she’s a crazed community theatre actor and director, unknown playwright, aspiring novelist, and bathroom Broadway belter.

Although she’s been writing since she was old enough to pick up a pencil, Cindy began her professional journalism career at the age of 18 as an editorial assistant at the now-defunct Philadelphia Bulletin. After graduating from Rutgers University, she moved on to the Bucks County Courier Times in Pennsylvania, where she won several awards, including the Pennsylvania Press Association’s Better Newswriting Award and the Associated Press Managing Editors’ Award. After taking a hiatus to raise her three sons, she returned to the workforce as editor of Hospital & Healthcare News and website content writer for CHOP; she later freelanced for magazines, non-profits, and local companies in need of someone who could turn a phrase. In 2016 she was lucky enough to join the OIA family at Jefferson, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Cindy lives in Haddonfield, NJ, with her husband Don, and enjoys frequent visits from their kids—Daniel (and Shelby), Jake (and Beth), and Ben (and Sabrina).

Read "Medicine of Frequencies"

Kyle Rodgers, raised in Lancaster, PA, is currently a first-year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. He plans to graduate in 2022 as a Doctor of Medicine. When his nose is not buried in dense textbooks, he enjoys volunteering his time and relaxing with more artistic endeavors such as singing, playing piano and writing stories.  

After graduating from the University of Scranton in 2017, Kyle began a yearlong volunteering commitment on the Navajo Nation Native American Reservation. From his university graduation until his medical college matriculation, Kyle supervised the adult day treatment program at St. Michael’s Association for Special Education (SMASE), located in Window Rock, Arizona. There, he served native adults suffering from a wide range of developmental disabilities. He still visits his friends at SMASE.

His experience on the reservation sparked further interest in helping underserved populations. He currently volunteers at JeffHOPE’s weekly medical clinic at Prevention Point, a nonprofit harm-reduction organization in Kensington, Philadelphia. Additionally, he volunteers once a week at Health Careers Academy, where he introduces local high-school students to the field of medicine.

“2100: A Health Odyssey” is the first public writing competition into which Kyle has ever entered. He hopes his entry not only entertains but also serves the community in raising awareness of socioeconomic disparities in healthcare today. 

 Read "The Compacts: A Family Building Project"

Jenna Pashley Smith is a writer, translator, artist and teacher. After a childhood spent roaming the magical cornfields of Indiana, she moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she lived for nearly a decade before adopting Texas as her home. Jenna’s poems have been published by the Annals of Internal Medicine, Eastern Iowa Review, The Binnacle, The Texas Poetry Calendar, and many other online and print anthologies. She is currently working on her third novel. She is a member of SCBWI, several poetry societies, a weekly critique group and serves as the Editor for the Poetry Society of Texas. When not writing, Jenna raises chickens and children in the suburbs and dabbles in myriad artistic endeavors.

Read "Sector 612"