Zed Zha, MD
Physician. Writer. Speaker. Medical cultural critic.
Author of Consented (North Atlantic Books, 2026)
Reimagining medicine through autonomy, dignity, and trust.
Photo credit: Megan Bardell Photography
Available Now!
Medicine is sick. Consented is the book that names the crisis of coercive medical practices and calls for a revolution in restoring true patient autonomy.
On-sale date: April 14, 2026
Upcoming Events
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Join physician and author Zed Zha, MD, and certified nurse midwife Jill Gustafson, CNM, at Rediscovered Books for a powerful conversation on autonomy, trust, and the hidden ways medicine can fail the very people it aims to serve and how we can begin to do better.
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Join Zed Zha, MD, author of Consented, in conversation with Lu Chekowsky, author of Don’t Buy What I’m Selling, for a virtual discussion on power, persuasion, and autonomy inside and beyond medicine. Together, they explore how systems shape what we believe, how we consent, and what it takes to reclaim agency.
Hosted by Charis Books & More
Event details & registration.
Photo credit: Megan Bardell
Keynote Speaker
National Perinatal Association, 2026
Between the Village and the World:
Medicine at the Crossroads of Justice
Zed speaks on autonomy, trust, and the human cost of modern medical systems—bridging rural, global, and institutional perspectives on care.
My Mother Was a Thief
Viral Essay & Upcoming Graphic Memoir
What began years ago as a single essay on my website eventually took on a life far larger than I ever expected. “My Mother Was a Thief” first existed as a written story about immigration, medicine, family, and the night my mother stole me back from an adoption unit after doctors wrongly declared me “stupid.” Then it became live storytelling, performed aloud before audiences. Later, through the extraordinary work of artist Pan Cooke, the story transformed again into visual art that somehow carried the emotional weight even further. Now, Pan and I are expanding it into a full graphic memoir project about family, survival, defiance, and the absurd ways people continue loving one another despite what the world says should happen to them.
Explore the story:
• Original essay: My Mother Was A Thief
• Viral Instagram post
• Mother’s Day 2026 essay: My Mother’s Unfounded Confidence
• Live storytelling performance
• Podcast conversation: The American 31 Favor Ice Cream
• Graphic memoir project
Art work by Pan Cooke
A Newsletter Where Medicine Meets Humanity
unflinching stories, questions, and reflections on how care, power, and empathy shape the doctor–patient world
3,800+ subscribers
Browse the newsletters:
The Patient Who Googled Her Symptoms
Then out-googled all her doctors.
The Angry Daughter
When a daughter’s anger becomes her inheritance, the echoes of family and medicine collide.
The Uncomfortable Patient
When a patient’s discomfort becomes the story untold, silence comes first.
Newest Op-Ed
My article, “Would you like to keep this pregnancy?” centers a conversation I had with my 13-year-old patient and was awarded Gold Winner, MedPage Today Digital Health Awards (2022).
In this op-ed, I examine what happens when food stamps restrictions turn poverty into a moral failing. Read it here.
About
Zed Zha is a physician, writer, and medical cultural critic.
Trained in academic centers and now practicing in rural America, her work explores how medicine can fail the very people it intends to serve and what it would take to rebuild it around trust, dignity, and consent. Her writing has been read by patients and clinicians seeking language for experiences often left unnamed.