Storytelling and the Medical Student Experience: A Collection of Writings

Abstract

Physician trainees can offer unique perspectives to the world of narrative medicine. First, rising physicians can provide direct commentary on the powerful experiences of training to become a physician, from their first moments in anatomy lab to their first patient death. Trainees’ proximity to such experiences can enrich narrative writing with more accurate and, oftentimes, more stirring descriptions of their inner reactions than might more senior authors. Second, ongoing national controversy over the state of the US healthcare system demands input from the next generation of healthcare providers. The public needs to hear the perspectives of trainees in health care, those providers at the bottom of the totem pole, who feel the greatest impacts from legislative reforms and who will inherit this disorganized system in the future. In addressing this need for physician trainee participation in narrative medicine, this Scholars in Medicine report includes a collection of 11 articles that I published during my time as a medical student and investigates the impact of these publications in the public realm. These articles appeared in the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, JAMA Internal Medicine, and the New York Times. This report lays out the processes by which physician trainees may pursue publication in popular media and academic journals, as a primary goal in the completion of this project is to encourage further storytelling and authorship among rising physicians. In addition, this project includes detailed reflection on the effects that narrative medicine can have on physician trainees, from reinforcing empathy to fostering professional development to serving as a tool for advocacy.