Stories from the World of Medicine
Season
8
Episode
5
|
Dec 11, 2025
Medicine Beyond Medicine with Alicia Ashorn & Anthony Thigpen
Community health workers Alicia Ashorn and Anthony Thigpen share their personal stories—Alicia’s journey through addiction and recovery, and Anthony’s path through grief, transformation, and reentry work—and how these experiences shape their care for people returning from incarceration. In the conversation that follows, they reflect on the power of storytelling, the emotional complexity of supporting clients in crisis, and the wisdom required to balance compassion with boundaries. Through vivid anecdotes from the field, they illuminate the essential yet often unseen role of community health workers as bridges between the clinic and the community, offering trust, dignity, and hope to people navigating systems that routinely fail them.
0:00/1:34
Stories from the World of Medicine
Season
8
Episode
5
|
Dec 11, 2025
Medicine Beyond Medicine with Alicia Ashorn & Anthony Thigpen
Community health workers Alicia Ashorn and Anthony Thigpen share their personal stories—Alicia’s journey through addiction and recovery, and Anthony’s path through grief, transformation, and reentry work—and how these experiences shape their care for people returning from incarceration. In the conversation that follows, they reflect on the power of storytelling, the emotional complexity of supporting clients in crisis, and the wisdom required to balance compassion with boundaries. Through vivid anecdotes from the field, they illuminate the essential yet often unseen role of community health workers as bridges between the clinic and the community, offering trust, dignity, and hope to people navigating systems that routinely fail them.
0:00/1:34
Stories from the World of Medicine
Season
8
Episode
5
|
12/11/25
Medicine Beyond Medicine with Alicia Ashorn & Anthony Thigpen
Community health workers Alicia Ashorn and Anthony Thigpen share their personal stories—Alicia’s journey through addiction and recovery, and Anthony’s path through grief, transformation, and reentry work—and how these experiences shape their care for people returning from incarceration. In the conversation that follows, they reflect on the power of storytelling, the emotional complexity of supporting clients in crisis, and the wisdom required to balance compassion with boundaries. Through vivid anecdotes from the field, they illuminate the essential yet often unseen role of community health workers as bridges between the clinic and the community, offering trust, dignity, and hope to people navigating systems that routinely fail them.
0:00/1:34
About Our Guest
Alicia Ashorn
Alicia is a Community Health Worker who is passionate about making positive changes in the community where she works and lives. Born and raised in Vallejo, California – Alicia has overcome a past of incarceration and drug addiction to become a valuable member of society. As a single mother raising a son (whose father is still incarcerated), she managed to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at UC Davis and a Master’s in Public Health at Touro University. After being rejected for certain jobs because of her background check, she finally found her calling working with the re-entry population at La Clinica’s Transitions Clinic in Vallejo. She also serves on the Board of Vallejo Together – a non-profit organization who provides services and resources to Vallejo’s unsheltered community.
Anthony Thigpen
Anthony is a Certified Community Health Worker and Program Coordinator for Connect for Health, in Providence RI. He is currently perusing his bachelor's in organizational leadership and change. Formerly incarcerated. Re-entry and prison reform advocate.
About The Show
The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors, and art-makers. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.
resources
Credits
About Our Guest
Alicia Ashorn
Alicia is a Community Health Worker who is passionate about making positive changes in the community where she works and lives. Born and raised in Vallejo, California – Alicia has overcome a past of incarceration and drug addiction to become a valuable member of society. As a single mother raising a son (whose father is still incarcerated), she managed to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at UC Davis and a Master’s in Public Health at Touro University. After being rejected for certain jobs because of her background check, she finally found her calling working with the re-entry population at La Clinica’s Transitions Clinic in Vallejo. She also serves on the Board of Vallejo Together – a non-profit organization who provides services and resources to Vallejo’s unsheltered community.
Anthony Thigpen
Anthony is a Certified Community Health Worker and Program Coordinator for Connect for Health, in Providence RI. He is currently perusing his bachelor's in organizational leadership and change. Formerly incarcerated. Re-entry and prison reform advocate.
About The Show
The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors, and art-makers. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.
resources
Credits
About Our Guest
Alicia Ashorn
Alicia is a Community Health Worker who is passionate about making positive changes in the community where she works and lives. Born and raised in Vallejo, California – Alicia has overcome a past of incarceration and drug addiction to become a valuable member of society. As a single mother raising a son (whose father is still incarcerated), she managed to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at UC Davis and a Master’s in Public Health at Touro University. After being rejected for certain jobs because of her background check, she finally found her calling working with the re-entry population at La Clinica’s Transitions Clinic in Vallejo. She also serves on the Board of Vallejo Together – a non-profit organization who provides services and resources to Vallejo’s unsheltered community.
Anthony Thigpen
Anthony is a Certified Community Health Worker and Program Coordinator for Connect for Health, in Providence RI. He is currently perusing his bachelor's in organizational leadership and change. Formerly incarcerated. Re-entry and prison reform advocate.
About The Show
The Nocturnists is an award-winning medical storytelling podcast, hosted by physician Emily Silverman. We feature personal stories from frontline clinicians, conversations with healthcare-related authors, and art-makers. Our mission is to humanize healthcare and foster joy, wonder, and curiosity among clinicians and patients alike.
resources
Credits
The Nocturnists is made possible by the California Medical Association, and donations from people like you!
This episode is sponsored by The Physicians Foundation as well as Unleashed: Redesigning Health Care, a podcast that features clinician-innovators who have changed care on the front lines. Their stories, their voices, their ingenuity.
Transcript
Note: The Nocturnists is an audio-first experience with emotion and sound design that can be difficult to fully capture in text. Transcripts are provided to support accessibility and reference, but may contain minor inaccuracies. If quoting in print, please consult the audio when possible.
Transcript coming soon.
Note: The Nocturnists is an audio-first experience with emotion and sound design that can be difficult to fully capture in text. Transcripts are provided to support accessibility and reference, but may contain minor inaccuracies. If quoting in print, please consult the audio when possible.
Transcript coming soon.
Transcript
Note: The Nocturnists is an audio-first experience with emotion and sound design that can be difficult to fully capture in text. Transcripts are provided to support accessibility and reference, but may contain minor inaccuracies. If quoting in print, please consult the audio when possible.
Transcript coming soon.
0:00/1:34
Humanizing healthcare through storytelling.
podcast
Humanizing healthcare through storytelling.
podcast