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September 23, 2020 | 4 min read

Lessons From an Elective in Narrative Medicine

By Jade Cobern, MD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Reflection reconnects you with yourself, opens opportunities for mentorship, and brings greater empathy to patient care.

March 24, 2025 | 2 min read

Bones and “bons mots” (Fr)

Narrative medicine provides a framework for integrating empathy, reflection, and trust into all fields of medical practice, fostering deeper connections between practitioners and patients.

March 27, 2025 | 1 min read

“Breaking bad news”: a poem

By Miriam Colleran, MD, St. Brigids Hospice & Naas General Hospital, Ireland

I wrote this poem to explore sharing and receiving challenging news from the perspective of both clinician and patient. Reflecting on situations from multiple points of view enhances my ability to empathize.

March 1, 2018 | 2 min read

Individualized Medicine Calls Me Back to Patient Stories

By Tom Laskow, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

New thinking mirrors old wisdom: to understand this manifestation of disease, understand this patient.

"Couple in the Park," John Russell Clift, 1961, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

January 17, 2019 | 5 min read

Do You See? The Power of Pictures

By Elizabeth Gundersen, MD, University of Colorado

Photographs capture the essence of who we are. When we ask to see pictures, patients and families are reassured that we value the wholeness of their lives.

Blowball With Seeds Flying To The Sky

March 7, 2024 | 1 min read

Co-opting feelings

By Bessie Liu, medical student, Johns Hopkins Medicine

After my cancer treatment, I felt pressured to turn my trauma into personal growth—when what I needed to do was grieve. This has allowed me to validate whatever feelings patients are experiencing.

July 11, 2022 | 5 min read

Navigating Power Relations in Healthcare

By Hailey Haffey, PhD, University of Utah

We must be aware of the power we have in relation to our patients. This imbalance must only be used in the service of care.

November 6, 2024 | 2 min read

Artful healing

By Sujal Manohar, medical student, Baylor College of Medicine

When I was working in an epilepsy center, I learned the value of understanding the patient’s lived experience. Art and storytelling can provide a unique window into patient concerns and dreams.

April 3, 2025 | 3 min read

The unknown variable

By Eve Glenn, ScB, medical student, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Providing excellent patient care requires being in the liminal space between scientific certainty and human ambiguity. This is a place from which to bear witness to suffering with both intellectual curiosity and deep empathy.

June 22, 2018 | 2 min read

Ars Medica: The Art of Medicine

By Javier de la Maza, MD, Johns Hopkins University

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can be used to shape our reality and reconnect with our patients. Building meaningful relationships with our patients reminds us the importance of the human experience in providing clinically excellent care.

May 11, 2018 | <1 min read

Share A Story In One Tweet

By Scott Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Hope you’re as moved as we were by these touching short stories from both healthcare providers and patients.

March 26, 2021 | 5 min read

“The Danger of a Single Story”

By Jade Cobern, MD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Margaret Hannah, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Rosemary Hawkins, MS, CCLS, Johns Hopkins Medicine

A single narrative creates biases, reinforces stereotypes, and can prevent us from seeing the full potential in ourselves and others. Appreciating multiple stories can deepen and broaden our perspectives.

July 12, 2018 | 1 min read

Storytelling in Medicine

By Susan Lehmann, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The ability to learn your patient’s story from their words is the essential skill for developing a comprehensive understanding. This is crucial for accurate diagnosis and for establishing a therapeutic bond with each patient.

September 25, 2023 | 5 min read

Less is More

By Jonathan McFarland, Medical Humanist, Autonomous University of Madrid & University of Pompeu Fabra

The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi can help us appreciate impermanence and approach death as part of life.

March 13, 2024 | 1 min read

How writing helps me as a clinician

By Jason Han, MD, Penn Medicine

Writing helps me reflect on the surgical decisions I make each day.

"I think of my daughter standing on her tippy toes, her soapy hands in mine sticky with the day’s adventures. "

January 25, 2024 | 1 min read

At the scrub sink

By Brandi Scully, MD, MS, Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital

During the pandemic, living away from my family was rough. I found spending brief periods engaged in an artistic pursuit, like writing poetry, to be healing.

September 30, 2020 | 2 min read

Perspective-taking Through Poetry

By Howard Chang, Medical Student, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Creative writing may enhance our ability to recognize and understand conflicting perspectives in order to better empathize with our patients.

"Abstract Painting (726)" 1990, Gerhard Richter, Tate Museum.

December 6, 2018 | 5 min read

Lines Blurred

By Ekene Ojukwu, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Really taking care of a patient means making hard choices, saying things people don’t want to hear, and letting them decide if they will engage in their own care. At the same time, it means learning different ways of listening, looking for opportunities and strategies to trust our patients, believing their stories, and seeing them as full individuals

August 22, 2023 | 4 min read

HeART And Soul

By Jonathan McFarland, Medical Humanist, Autonomous University of Madrid & University of Pompeu Fabra

Incorporating the arts into patient care may be a step toward infusing compassion into what can be a dehumanizing healthcare environment.

July 5, 2023 | 3 min read

What brought you in today?

By Hailey Haffey, PhD, University of Utah

Asking my patients open-ended questions about how they physically traveled to the appointment can reveal important information.

"Blue Rider," Franz Marc, 1911.

May 14, 2019 | 4 min read

Review of “Critical Crash”

By Andre Lijoi, MD, York, Pennsylvania

We all have our woundedness, and our own story is important in the context of caring for our patients. These stories and wounds operate in the background of our consciousness and we must recognize and manage them.

September 20, 2023 | 2 min read

Sharing Our Stories

By Hailey Haffey, PhD, University of Utah

Stories we’ve internalized about healing may direct our approach to patient care. Find the one that resonates most with you.

November 8, 2022 | 1 min read

Brown Girl Narratives

By Kristal Brown, PhD, MSPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Art can be healing. With this in mind, I brought together the community to paint an uplifting mural.

May 4, 2023 | 2 min read

The Power of Stories

By Flora Kisuule, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Scott Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

A recent grand rounds by Dr. Kimberly Manning illuminated how stories give meaning to why we do what we do.

March 20, 2019 | 4 min read

Social History as Story

By Colleen Farrell, MD, New York University

We cannot understand our patients’ bodies if we do not understand something about who they are as human beings,

Evelyn in her nursing uniform.

December 18, 2018 | 4 min read

Evelyn’s Story

By Mariah Robertson, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Keeping in touch with patients and their families in the days, weeks, and months following an encounter makes the practice of medicine meaningful and rewarding.

January 8, 2019 | 1 min read

Book Review of “Wolf Constellation”

By Deirdre Johnston, MBBCh, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

This novel prompts us to consider a family's story across generations and its influence on the emergence, manifestation, diagnosis, and treatment of illness in an individual. We routinely inquire about, and document, every patient's family history, but the simple listing of a diagnosis in other family members does not tell the whole story. We need to be curious about that story, because it can tell us much about our patients' strengths and vulnerabilities.

October 13, 2020 | 3 min read

Attending to the Story

By Mollie Marr (she/her), MD/PhD student, Oregon Health & Science University

It’s important to approach each patient with a fresh perspective. While prior diagnoses should be considered, anchoring to them introduces bias that may cloud your vision.

March 13, 2018 | 2 min read

Reading Your Patient and Changing Your Plan

By Mike Fingerhood, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

We usually already have an agenda set when we see patients. However, we have to be ready to improvise by reading the patient, and be open to changing our plan.

May 18, 2020 | 2 min read

Remembering Our Call to Medicine

By Aidan Crowley, Medical Student, University of Pennsylvania

Remembering why we chose a career in medicine can perhaps bolster our sense of well-being and mitigate burnout.

November 21, 2024 | 2 min read

Building bridges with patients through writing

By Roshni Beeharry, MBBS, Kings College London

Reflective journaling can be used to help us step into our patient’s shoes to understand their unique challenges. Consider experimenting with this and other forms of writing.

The koru is a spiral shape based on the appearance of a new unfurling silver fern frond. It's an integral symbol in Māori art, carving and tattooing, where it symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace. Photo by David Kopacz.

October 18, 2022 | 7 min read

A New Paradigm For Growth

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington, Lucinda Houghton, PhD

As with other traumas, burnout, viewed as an opportunity for personal and professional development, offers a way to expand ourselves as wholehearted healers.

August 7, 2024 | 3 min read

“Far from the madding crowd”

By Kittane "Vishnu" Vishnupriya, MBBS, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Every extra hour that a patient spends in the ER worsens mortality. Clinicians can make changes to address this problem, like reorganizing rounding to see potential discharge-ready patients first.

March 6, 2025 | 1 min read

Interactions

By Hanan Akbari, MFA student, Boston University

Prioritize dedicated listening time for patients, especially those experiencing isolation. The simple act of providing empathetic company can significantly enhance their well-being.

"New Zealand Landscape," original artwork by the author, 2011.

July 18, 2019 | 4 min read

Circle Medicine: A Holistic Approach to Health for Clinicians and Patients

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

It can be helpful to see the circle path of the hero's journey as the healer's journey, the path that we take through our lifelong medical education. For the true healer, this is not a journey we make just once, but periodically we embark on exploring new depths of the suffering of the world, reaching deep into ourselves to find new resources for healing to bring into our work and world.

"Hero's Journey," by David Kopacz.

July 27, 2022 | 1 min read

Hero’s Journey

By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington

Suffering and wounds (visible and invisible) can provide opportunities for patients to gain wisdom and healing.

"An Orchid," Georgia O'Keefe, 1941, Museum of Modern Art.

November 13, 2018 | 2 min read

Seeing the Unseen

By Lauren Small, PhD

To start seeing the unseen, carving out five minutes to sit down and just listen to your patient can make a difference.

August 30, 2023 | 2 min read

Containing Chaos Through Dance

By Shreya Srivastava, medical student, Albany Medical College

The strength, stamina, emotional understanding, and situational awareness that dancers develop over time can also benefit healthcare professionals.

September 9, 2019 | 6 min read

Patient Interviewing Gems

By Thomas Gracie, Medical Student, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Excellent clinicians make the time to learn about their patients as people and connect on a personal level, building relationships that can last years, decades, or even a lifetime.

August 19, 2019 | 6 min read

Holding Hope

By Jennifer Goetz, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital

By highlighting the strength and courage of our patients, we can sustain hope for our patients and their families.

July 26, 2018 | 1 min read

A Taste of Their Own Medicine

By Scott Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Videos spreading misinformation to patients, promoting unproven therapies, can spread like wildfire on social media. We are sharing another video to fight fire with fire.

January 9, 2019 | 1 min read

The Disease of Loneliness

By Shannon Scott-Vernaglia, MD, Mass General

In an environment pushing us ever faster, making the time to listen will often lead to better patient outcomes and greater clinician fulfillment.

February 24, 2020 | 1 min read

“StoryCorps” Moments

By Sharon Solomon, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Taking the time to listen to patients' stories validates the humanity that is integral in the practice of medicine. It also can create meaning and bring joy within the patient-clinician dyad.

May 10, 2021 | 2 min read

Bearing Witness

By Jennifer Caputo-Seidler, MD, University of South Florida

During the pandemic healthcare professionals have often been the only ones present with patients at the end of life. It’s ok if you struggle to find the right words—sitting with a patient so they're not alone is enough.

March 14, 2018 | 2 min read

The Power of Acknowledging Feelings

By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

Recognizing and acknowledging feelings can diffuse a patient’s anxiety.

August 14, 2018 | 3 min read

Seeing Your Patients Through New Perspectives

By Patrick Hemming, MD, Duke University

We can enhance our patient care if we incorporate the perspectives of life story and behavior.

April 26, 2018 | 1 min read

Forming True Partnerships In Care: Listen To Your Patient

By Michael Crocetti, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians

Reflecting on caring for a 12-year-old with a complex neurological condition, I was humbled by the parents’ definition of clinically excellent patient care.

"Corridor in the Asylum," Vincent van Gogh, 1889. The Met Museum.

March 5, 2018 | 3 min read

Demystifying Psychiatry

By Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Demystifying psychiatry for patients is the heart of my work. In its existential aspects, psychotherapy calls for the imagination of alternative possibilities.

April 5, 2018 | 5 min read

Remaking Medicine Whole

By Gregory Frichionne, MD, Harvard Medical School

A review of "Whole Person Care: Transforming Healthcare" by Tom Hutchinson, MB, McGill University.

David and John Launer in North Wales. Photo author's own.

January 7, 2020 | 3 min read

Like Father, Like Son—or Possibly Not

By John Launer, MD, London, United Kingdom

Would you advise young people to become a doctor? Reflection from a father and son below.