Meyer, Ella2023-06-082023-06-082023-05-19https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/59431According to Rita Charon, founder of the developing field of narrative medicine, "medicine practiced with narrative competence, called narrative medicine, is proposed as a model for humane and effective medical practice," which "offers fresh opportunities for respectful, empathetic, and nourishing medical care" (Charon, 2001). Narrative medicine is composed of three key practices: close reading, reflective writing, and active listening. Developing each of these skills, Charon proposes, can foster compassion and empathy in medical providers. The demonstration of these practices has been shown to "facilitate an authentic partnership by building empathy and trust,"as well as "promote physician well-being and prevent burnout" (Khawand-Azoulai, et. al. 2022, Stumbar, S. E et al., 2020). Medical education currently is striving to incorporate humanistic training to develop a holistic approach to patient care, but narrative medicine training has yet to be extensively examined in undergraduate pre-health education (Pentiado, J. A. et. al., 2016, Barron, L., 2017). Narrative competence, defined by Charon as "the ability to acknowledge, absorb, interpret, and act on the stories and plights of others," has been proposed as a pre-requisite to developing good patient-care skills in education and training prior to practicing as a provider (Charon, 2001, Baron, L., 2017). The incorporation of humanistic training for undergraduate pre-medical students in the form of narrative medicine practices can prepare future professional school students to begin developing a patient-centered perspective of healthcare. The undergraduate years have the "potential to shape the kinds of caregivers we want for our patients, for friends, for our families, and for ourselves" (Barron, L. 2017). It is therefore important to gain an understanding of how medical humanities education can impact undergraduate students, because foundational knowledge of these concepts prepares students for later development of humane medical practice in professional school. The three avenues of narrative medicine training that I have chosen to analyze include a narrative medicine workshop series, a group of pre-health students called the Illness Narrative Listening Project, and lastly, my reflective writing on clinical experiences. Data collected through a mixed-methods approach, gleaning insight through both qualitative and quantitative research methods, in the form of interviews and surveys respectively, will illuminate the complexities of the research question. The goal of the workshops and listening project is to teach these practices to undergraduate students in order to explore if the same benefits seen in clinical practice and medical education could be demonstrated in undergraduate pre-health education. My research question then becomes "How does narrative medicine training impact undergraduate pre-health students?"narrative medicinemedical humanities