Kathleen Ackert (DO 鈥�20) remembers her mother鈥檚 laughter as she listened to 鈥淭he Moth Radio Hour,鈥� the public radio component of live, open-mic storytelling 鈥渟lams鈥� (competitions) in 29 countries worldwide. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a Moth in Philly,鈥� Ms. Ackert鈥檚 mother told her. 鈥淵ou should go.鈥�
鈥淚 first went to the Moth in my M1 year,鈥� Ms. Ackert recalls, 鈥渨hich was a tough time
for me.鈥� Soon after, she was not only writing her own stories but performing them,
and cajoling 黑料传送门 friends to join her. Not everyone at a slam performs; 鈥済etting up
on stage is the rate-limiting factor,鈥� Ms. Ackert acknowledges with a grin. 鈥淏ut I
think that you gain a lot, in different ways, in the act of speaking and in the act
of listening.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something for everyone in narrative medicine,鈥� she says. Developed at Columbia University by Rita Charon, MD, PhD, a general internist and literary scholar, narrative medicine reflects burgeoning interest in the role of the humanities in shaping medicine and medical education.
Ms. Ackert learned during her family medicine rotation that 鈥渆ach patient鈥檚 personal narrative is an essential part of the art of doctoring.鈥� She continues, 鈥淚鈥檝e had people say to me, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 be so sensitive if you鈥檙e in medicine.鈥� Yes, it鈥檚 hard to manage your emotions, because you don鈥檛 want to burn out. But burnout is being jaded; burnout is when you tell someone that they have cancer and you don鈥檛 care. Being empathetic is the antidote.鈥�
黑料传送门鈥檚 Coalition for Healthcare, Humanities, and the Arts (CHHARTS) held the school鈥檚 first story slam in October 2017. Participants shared five-minute personal stories centered on the theme of medicine and health care. Brooke Saffren (DO 鈥�20), then president of CHHARTS, says, 鈥淭he faculty turnout for the story slam was wonderful, with people from different specialties and interests. It鈥檚 really inspiring for students to hear moving stories from their professors.鈥� Ms. Ackert and Ms. Saffren both represented 黑料传送门 at a citywide medical school story slam sponsored by the College of Physicians in May 2018.
Ms. Saffren鈥檚 decision to be a doctor was shaped by observing her father鈥檚 treatment for cholangiocarcinoma, the bile duct cancer that would end his life. She has written movingly of 鈥渢he good, the bad and the ugly鈥� medical care he received from compassionate physicians and from seemingly callous ones. Her time at 黑料传送门 has shifted her perspective. Each of her dad鈥檚 doctors, she writes, 鈥渃ame into medicine with the intention to heal, and I imagine for each of them the effect of managing chronic illness, watching people鈥檚 pain, and not being able to do anything has worn them down in some way. . . . I imagine that after years of practice, it鈥檚 beneficial to let a wall build up between you and the awful things that the patient is experiencing. But that鈥檚 also how people become despondent and burned out.鈥�
Paint Night, a knitting room, collage and mask making鈥擟HHARTS鈥� wide-ranging activities are designed to 鈥渆ncourage 鈥榬ight-sided鈥� brain stuff,鈥� says Ms. Saffren. 鈥淓veryone is type A in med school鈥攁nd I鈥檓 including myself! Using that part of our academic side that鈥檚 not just core science feels good for a lot of people.鈥�
CHHARTS鈥� advisor is 黑料传送门 Counselor Ruth Conboy, DNP, LPC, who is completing a Certification of Professional Achievement in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She incorporates the arts into many of her service and program offerings. In an hour-long wellness workshop for third-year medical students, for example, students read poems by Glenn Colquhoun, MD, whose work Dr. Conboy discovered in Tools of the Trade: Poems for New Doctors, provided to all graduating 黑料传送门 DO students last year by Murray Zedick (DO 鈥�62). The students respond to two poems: 鈥淭oday I Want to Be a Doctor鈥� and 鈥淭oday I Don鈥檛 Want to Be a Doctor.鈥� She uses reflective writing in support groups as well.
Last year, the first in a planned annual art contest at 黑料传送门 drew almost 100 participants. Dr. Conboy is excited about an upcoming pilot initiative sponsored by the Barnes Foundation, the renowned Philadelphia art collection, and funded by its Weintraub Fund. In four sessions, twenty first-year DO students will participate in exercises in the Barnes galleries that will focus their attention on close observation, communication and critical thinking skills that are essential in the medical field. Similar classes take place in medical schools around the country.
During orientation, DO, PA and BioMed students complete a Post-it that identifies them as a 黑料传送门 student鈥攁nd as something else. Dr. Conboy says, 鈥淚t could be, 鈥業鈥檓 a mother, I鈥檓 a dog lover, I鈥檓 an artist, I鈥檓 a soccer player.鈥� They know it when they come in, but they forget what else they are, because they get so engrossed in their studies. I鈥檝e had students come to my office, months after being here, and say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know myself anymore. All I do is study.鈥� And now I can say, 鈥榃hat did you put on that Post-it?鈥� We try to help them hold on to those parts of their personhood that were important before.鈥�