What is Narrative Medicine
The concept of Narrative Medicine was primarily originated and coined by Dr. Rita Charon, a general internist and literary scholar at Columbia University.
She launched the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University in 1996 (formally established in 2000).
Dr. Charon’s approach emphasizes the importance of a clinician’s ability to “recognize, absorb, metabolize, interpret, and be moved by the stories of illness”, which she terms “narrative competence.” The field emerged as a response to patient complaints that their doctors did not seem to truly listen to or understand their full experience of suffering.
The practice integrates skills from the humanities, particularly literary studies and narrative theory, into medical education and clinical care to deepen patient-provider relationships and enhance empathy.
PERSONSPECTIVES 