Inspiration: Narrative Medicine

Inspiration: Narrative Medicine

 "When we write about what we know and about what we don't know, we encounter mystery."  (Aimee Mepham, 2020)

Ever hear of Narrative Medicine?  I hadn’t until recently.  Narrative medicine combines close reading of literature and reflective writing to help healthcare providers deal with the stress of medicine and develop sympathy for their patients. The writing can be of any genre—fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction.  

The idea of including a patient’s experience within the scientific practice originated in the 1910 Flexner Report, a book about healthcare in the US and Canada.* In the last part of the twentieth century, the concept morphed into curriculum at medical schools. Columbia University offers a Master of Science Narrative Medicine that broadens the scope of the field to include patients writing their own stories.  

I discovered narrative medicine after taking “Narrative Medicine: Stories of Illness & the Power of Reflective Writing” with Aimee Mepham, a graduate of Columbia’s Masters program, during NCWN’s Cabin Fever Conference this past weekend.

Mepham said reading guidelines when practicing narrative medicine, include

·         Observing: what sensory details are provided?

·         Recognizing the perceptive: doctor, nurse, patient, all three?

·         Identifying the form: fiction, non-fiction, poetry

·         Recognizing the voice: the point of view

·         Identifying the mood: how do you feel after reading the piece?

·         Observing the motion:  To what place does the story take you?

These guidelines are good for close reading, whatever the reason.  And, to keep in mind with our own writing. 

She left us with a couple of prompts: 

    “I felt anchored when…”

    “The hospital corridor was dimly lit…”

Would you like to write about your experience with the pandemic, the self-isolation, or other loss, grief, or illness you have experienced?  If you do, and would like to share it, send it to me (Carol) as a .doc, .docx, or .rft. and I’ll post on the WMO Blog. In line with blog postings, please keep it under 300 words.

by  Carol Phillips

*Published by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the book had a huge (and, in my opinion from my limited understanding, not all together good) influence on how and by whom medicine is practiced today.  However, Flexner did introduce the notion that not only did a doctor need scientific knowledge but also insight into, and sympathy for, the human condition