title: Tell Me Your Story: A Pilot Narrative Medicine Curriculum During the Medicine Clerkship.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Narrative medicine educational interventions may enhance patient-centered care, yet most educational interventions do not involve actual patient-provider interactions, nor do they assess narrative competence, a key skill for its practice. An experiential narrative medicine curriculum for medical students was developed and piloted.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to develop narrative competence, practice attentive listening, and stimulate reflection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were third-year medicine clerkship students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The curriculum involved 1) an introductory session, 2) a patient storytelling activity, and 3) a group reflection session. For the storytelling activity, students elicited illness narratives in storytelling form from patients, listened attentively, wrote their versions of the story, and then read them back to patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five student focus groups were conducted between July 2011 and March 2012 (n = 31; 66%) to explore students' experiences, student-patient dynamics, challenges, and what they learned. Patient interviews (n = 17) on their experience were conducted in January 2013. Thematic analysis of the audiotaped stories of ten patients and corresponding student-written stories helped gauge narrative competence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The curriculum was found to be feasible and acceptable to both patients and students. Some patients and students were profoundly moved. Ongoing focus groups resulted in continual process improvement. Students' stories showed attainment of narrative competence.
authors: Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 50 Irving Street, NW, Medical Service (111), Washington, DC, 20422, USA, Katherine.Chretien@va.gov.
authors: Katherine C
authors: KC
authors: Chretien
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Swenson
authors: Bona
authors: B
authors: Yoon
authors: Ricklie
authors: R
authors: Julian
authors: Jonathan
authors: J
authors: Keenan
authors: James
authors: J
authors: Croffoot
authors: Raya
authors: R
authors: Kheirbek
mesh_terms: D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000379:methods*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004219:District of Columbia; D004645:Empathy; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods*; D033262:Narration; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation