Crossing Boundaries,

Unfolding Stories

Medical Humanities, Narratives, and Composition

By Jason ThamSt. Cloud State University

2014 Annual Minnesota Writing & English (MnWE) Conference

An emerging,

interdisciplinary field: Humanities Arts Social Sciences

Provide insights Guide future medical

education

Medical Humanities

Emerging concept to address

the need of patients and caregivers… To voice their experience To be heard To be valued

Challenges the uneasy and costly divisions in healthcare and professional communication, and seeks to bridge those divisions

Narrative Medicine

Using both sides of our brains Medicine practiced with narrative competence Humane and effective medical practices The power of storytelling

Crossing Boundaries

There isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love…

… once you have heard their stories.

“

Intimate, interpersonal process of writing

narratives Traumatic experiences Writing for expressions, revelations, reflections

Unfolding Stories

To write a narrative about

experiences with joy and pain

Encounters essential to human being

Purpose:

To recognize, absorb, interpret, and act upon the plight of others and one’s self.

The Assignment

Annual Survive & Thrive Conference Students to participate in conference

activities, present their work, and experience how it’s like to be a part of scholarly conversations

Collaboration

survivethrive.net

P1: Explorations/Discussions in small groups P2: Freewriting, outlining, messing around P3: Generating narratives P4: Peer reviews & feedback P5: Presentations & responses P6: Reflections

Phases

Students’ Feedback

“I realized how much more you remember from experiences when it is written on paper.”“I got to relive one of my past memories, and I got to truly appreciate the experience I had. I realized what a major impact that experience had on my life.”“I learned that I’m not the only one with daily struggles…”“People can be emotionally healed through writing.”“It helped me move on with my pain.”“It made me look into my past and analyze my sad and happy experiences, accepting them for what they are and move on.”

Students’ Feedback

Stories connect – identification with others &

self Instructor got to know more about students Cultural sensitivity

Lessons Learned

Multimodal composition Rhetorical analysis of medical

documents/communications Public exercise: interviews, public writing,

digital narratives

Ideas

Crossing Boundaries,

Unfolding Stories

Medical Humanities, Narratives, and Composition

By Jason ThamSt. Cloud State University

2014 Annual Minnesota Writing & English (MnWE) Conference