PSYC 450 - NARRATIVE MEDICINE: CRITICAL CONCEPTS, METHODS, AND APPLICATIONS

[9 Hours]

This four-week seminar will provide students with an introduction to narrative medicine. They will learn about the concepts and methods relevant to the cognitive and cultural aspects of narratives and their relevance to both patients’ stories and providers’ accounts. This will help them understand and apply techniques central to an: ethical, skillful communication with patients and other healthcare professionals. The overall goal of this seminar is to teach narrative medicine as a tool to sustainably improve outcomes. This is based on the premise that narratives foster cultural competence and empathy, and that they play a vital role for our identities and well-being. It helps clinicians broaden their knowledge of a patient and foster their therapeutic relationship with them. Thus, the seminar supports students’ development as well-rounded, thoughtful and empathic physicians. It will furthermore provide tools that have been shown to improve physician wellness and resilience. The syllabus has four parts, based by the seminar’s four objectives. 1. teach critical concepts; 2. understand the importance of narratives for identity formation and power relations, 3. learn and practice specific methods and tools; 4. appreciate the centrality of narratives to health care practice and apply tools to medical practice. The students will meet for 3 hours three days per week with the course director and guest lecturers (from multiple specialties) for seminars. The rest of the time is reserved for reading, writing and/or research projects in the field of narrative medicine. A syllabus with provided reading and visual materials will guide students in their submission of a weekly short blog entry, creative writing or project work. This course is pass/fail.