Description – This non-clinical elective will introduce students to the use of narratives (stories) in the healthcare professions for both patient and practitioner education. Narratives help both patients and doctors understand the human dimension of disease beyond diagnosis and therapy, such as pain, suffering, family dynamics in disease, and the meaning of illness. Survivor stories, blogs, online videos, and live speakers are effective ways that patient education groups such as The American Cancer Society, Qatar Cancer Society, and Twelve-Step Programs use to help patients explore the psychological, emotional, financial, and practical dimensions of their disease through peer-learning. Additionally, stories written by and for doctors offer a glimpse into professional career challenges that are often not explicitly taught within the medical school curriculum, such as work / life balance, burnout and stress, and identity formation. The course is offered in 2- and 4-week versions.
Activities and Learning Objectives – Students will:
1) Analyze and summarize the peer-reviewed evidence base for the effectiveness of narratives in improving health outcomes
2) Write a reflective paper on a major professional issue confronting healthcare workers.
3) Develop their own resource kit of literature, non-fiction, films, documentaries, etc. (bibliographies, URLs, or full texts) for educating patients about common chronic diseases and disease management.
4) Develop their own resource kit of potential future readings for their personal use to help them develop as reflective physicians and to provide insight into common career challenges that they may encounter.
Assessment: To pass this course, students must: a) attend all classes, b) participate and exhibit professional behaviors, and c) compile two resource kits and write a reflective essay. All written work must receive a letter grade of C or higher according to the course general writing rubric. Final grades are assessed as pass / fail.
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