NarrativeRx

Narrative Medicine synthesizes close reading, reflective writing, and attentive listening practices. A typical Narrative Medicine workshop begins with a group examination of an artwork like a short story, poem, or painting. We “close read” this artwork together, building skills in attentive listening as we learn to observe the details of plot, imagery, temporality, voice, and perspective. After a collaborative discussion of the text, we will spend 5 minutes free-writing in response to a short prompt. Though this writing prompt will change according to the workshop's themes, it will always give us an opportunity to imagine how the themes we've been discussing apply to our own lives, professions, and communities. Finally, we will share our writing in small groups or dyads, “close reading” each other’s writing with the same curious, generous attention to detail given to the original artwork. This final act of sharing, though entirely optional, builds vital listening skills and teaches us by example what it is like to be truly heard.

This workshop is open to everyone: medical professionals, administrators, students, teachers, patients, and anyone interested in the borderlands between medicine and the humanities. By building a safe space for people to connect, collaborate, and process our experiences through the lens of art, we hope to build stronger, more ethical, and more equitable healing communities.

After purchasing the workshop, you will be able to access the course page. This is where you'll find the month's Zoom links and pass codes. If you've navigated away from this page and would like to return to it: first, log in to your Thinkific account at https://narrativerx.thinkific.com/users/sign_in. This will take you to your student dashboard, where you will find the workshop listed under “My Courses.” Click on the workshop to access the Zoom link and passcode.

All live Zoom workshops take 90 minutes.

All live workshops are open to the public. You do not need to work in healthcare or know anything about the arts in order to attend.

What You Should Do To Prepare: Unlike a book club, you won’t have any reading to do beforehand, and you don’t need to know anything about literature, medicine, or the arts to have a good time. To attend a Zoom Workshop, you only need to do the following in advance: 1) If you don't already have a free Zoom account, sign up for one now so you’re not scrambling right before class. We will lock the class after 10 minutes. 2) Find a quiet space with few distractions. Have a pen and paper handy. A few minutes before class time, follow the link provided above to join the meeting, and enter the passcode above. You’ll be taken to the waiting room. 3) Once class time starts, we will admit you from the waiting room to the classroom. You’ll be muted upon entry and can choose to either have your video on (so we can all see you) or off (so that you are invisible to me and to other participants). Please do what makes you comfortable. *Please be aware that this workshop will be recorded, but anything shared in private breakout rooms will remain private and unrecorded.

Virtual workshops will be held each month. Join our newsletter by entering your email address on our homepage, or follow our Facebook page at Facebook.com/NarrativeRx to find out the date of the upcoming workshop.

Yes. Beginning June 2021, all workshops will be recorded, but anything shared in private breakout rooms will remain private and unrecorded. If you'd like to see the recording of a class, subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQXzJE42r8M6Gk25bO7pZWg.