This book bridges a critical gap between those who have access to narrative medicine programs and those who do not, democratizing narrative medicine practice. It explains basic narrative medicine principles and offers guided narrative medicine exercises on themes relevant to anyone working in healthcare or in the education of healthcare professionals. Thematic chapters can be used for individual reflection or in small group sessions.
Practical and accessible, the book will expand access to narrative medicine, making its principles straightforward and understandable, and its implementation manageable. Special consideration of issues of diversity and inclusivity are also woven throughout, highlighting the contexts and voices of those who are often left behind, and who suffer the most.
Healthcare workers face immense suffering daily, witnessing patients at their most vulnerable. This book bridges the gap in narrative medicine access, offering practical exercises to enhance compassion and self-reflection, reduce burnout and improve care. Inclusive and accessible, it amplifies often-overlooked voices.
1. Introduction
2. Implementing Workshops
3. Birth
4. Growth
5. Identity
6. Uncertainty
7. Isolation
8. Justice
9. Empathy
10. Trust
11. Illness
12.
Healing
13. Trauma
14. Hope
15. Pain
16. Joy
17. Loss and Grief
18. Courage
19. Shame
20. Self-Compassion
21. Connection
22. Aging
23. Gratitude
24. End
of Life
25. Transcendence
26. Conclusion
Julia Michie Bruckner, MD University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, Colorado Julia Michie Bruckner is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine with interests in medical humanities and narrative medicine. She serves as an attending pediatrician and Director of Faculty Wellbeing for the Section of Emergency Medicine at Childrens Hospital Colorado. She has published creative nonfiction essays in JAMA, Academic Medicine, Academic Pediatrics, Narratively, KevinMD and Doximity. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of the Bellevue Literary Review Felice Buckvar Prize in Nonfiction. ORCID: 0000-0002-0392-1273
Anjali Dhurandhar, MD University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, Colorado Anjali Dhurandhar is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and serves as Associate Director of the Arts and Humanities in Healthcare Program at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities. She is a general internist who has a focus on chronic pain. She has conducted writing workshops for the past 25 years and has edited numerous works.
Eve Makoff, MD, MS, MA MyPlace Health Los Angeles, California Eve Makoff is regional medical officer at MyPlace Health, a program for low-income, chronically Ill, elderly patients. Her recent publications and research in narrative medicine appear in Narrative and Palliative Medicine Reports. Her creative writing has appeared in JPM, JPSM, CMAJ, PULSE, J Emergency Med, J Clinical Bioethics, The Perfect Doctor, and OnlySky. She facilitates narrative medicine workshops. ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0967-7168
