NBM Talks: Podcast from the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab

Jay Baruch, physician, writer, and member of the NBM Lab's International Advisory Board, joins us from Providence, Rhode Island to trace where his interest in story, narrative, and medicine began. Jay shares stories from his career that illustrate how we can keep these interests joined and alive. In particular, he describes the benefits that working narratively has in the emergency room. Jay also shares his writing process and some exciting news about his current writing projects.About Our Guest:Jay Baruch is a writer, emergency room doctor, educator, and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where he serves as the Director of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Scholarly Concentration. His academic and creative work centers on the complexity and uncertainty in patient care and the importance of creativity, interdisciplinarity, and the arts as clinical skills.His latest book of non-fiction essays is Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the Emergency Room (MIT Press, 2022). He’s the author of two short fiction collections: What’s Left Out (Kent State UP, 2015) and Fourteen Stories: Doctors, Patients, and Other Strangers (Kent State UP, 2007).***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Conor Mc Donnell reads a passage from his new book of poetry What We Know So Far Is... (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). Filled with vivid imagery, literary allusions, contemplations on the role of language, and cultural references, Conor joins the revival of the long poem movement.This recording accompanies a feature article about Conor's latest publication, available for reading over on the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab.Published by Wolsak & Wynn, What We Know So Far Is… is out now and available for order online and from your local bookstore.

Petal Abdool shares how storytelling and lived experience bring medicine to life: from actors performing King Lear to help psychiatry residents reflect on aging to stepping into a geriatric suit to feel the physical challenges of growing older. She sheds light on how these immersive, hands-on experiences go beyond textbooks to help learners connect more deeply with their patients.About Our Guest:Petal Abdool is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a geriatric psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).She is the Medical Director of the CAMH Simulation Centre and Faculty Lead for Simulation Education Integration at Postgraduate Medical Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, where her research focuses on simulation-based medical education and care for seniors experiencing homelessness and living with severe mental illness.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Ryan Giroux shares how his experiences as an Indigenous resident inspired his work to support Indigenous learners in medicine. He discusses creating more inclusive residency training by fostering strong relationships among learners, faculty, and support staff. Through narrative-based medicine, he honours the stories of colleagues and transforms them into meaningful change in medical education and patient care.About Our Guest:Ryan Giroux is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto and a general paediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto focusing on urban Indigenous child health.He serves as the Postgraduate Medical Education Indigenous Health Faculty Lead at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and an Indigenous Educator with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He also serves on the Canadian Paediatric Society’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Health Committee, contributing to national advocacy and education efforts.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

In this episode, Rory O'Sullivan chats with us about his work as a writer and family physician. He shares the place that writing holds in his life and how it interacts with his clinical work, as well as offering advice on balancing careers and thoughts on publication strategies for those starting out. Rory also shares the latest on his pseudonymous psychological thriller: Waking on the Ground.About Our Guest:Rory O'Sullivan is a family doctor who practices comprehensive family medicine at the Garrison Creek Clinic in Toronto. In his 12 years in practice, Rory has worked in emergency rooms and hospitals across several provinces and served for nearly 3 years as the community physician for the Poplar Hill First Nation in Northwestern Ontario.He is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Toronto, where he teaches reflective practice as part of the portfolio course for undergraduate medical students, and is currently enrolled in the NBM Lab’s Advanced Certificate.His written work has been published in medical journals and magazines including The Intima, Pulse, and Canadian Family Physician. He is a past recipient of the CFPC Mimi Divinsky Award for history and narrative in family medicine, and a long-listed finalist for the International Amy MacRae Award for memoir. His latest publication Waking on the Ground is a novella written under the pen name "Eamon Rourke," available on Kobo and Kindle platforms.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Monica Kidd reads an excerpt from her new novel The Crane (Breakwater, 2025).

Jeff Thompson shares one of his collaborators' definitions of “awe,” which prompts us to consider how we can experience moments of wonder, amazement, and grandeur (or awe) amidst our daily routines.

Jordan Goodridge is a family physician, clinical educator, and 2SLGBTQIA+ health advocate, who seeks to advance medical education through equity, diversity, and inclusion in medicine. In this conversation with Sarah Kim, we explore how storytelling in film and narrative can be reflective of lived experiences of trans and gender-diverse patient populations and how they can be used to inform meaningful patient interactions.Jordan shares reflections on how the health humanities can help future physicians recognize their own biases, understand intersecting patient identities, and cultivate the empathy needed to serve all patients with dignity and respect.The poem referenced is "Munich, Winter 1973 (for Y.S.)" by James Baldwin, one of the first prominent Black writers to weave queer themes into fiction. The speaker in this poem feels "strange," as if an outsider in his own home, yet filled with impatient anticipation and excitement at the thought of his lover’s imminent return.About Our Guest:Jordan Goodridge is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and serves as the Temerty Medicine 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Education Theme Lead. He works at multiple locations in Toronto and the GTA, providing primary care, HIV care, and focused care in 2SLGBTQIA+ health. He has a strong interest in medical education, particularly in areas such as gender-affirming care, HIV primary care, and sexual health.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Sarah de Leeuw reads from her poetry collection: Pine. Her vivid imagery explores wildfire-scarred geographies and the profound shifts of middle age that culminate in reflections on change, resilience, and the deep connections between land and self.

Muiris Houston reads a creative piece that began from a visual writing prompt facilitated by Damian Tarnopolsky in a section of the Foundational Certificate in Narrative-Based Medicine.

Author and Foundational Certificate alum Leanne Toshiko Simpson shares her thoughts on the connections between her fiction writing and her path in the health humanities, and speaks about the inspiration behind her new novel Never Been Better (HarperCollins, 2024), out now.About Our Guest:Leanne Toshiko Simpson is a mixed-race Yonsei writer, educator, and psychiatric survivor from Toronto. She loves writing joyful, messy, laugh-out-loud stories about living with mental illness, and the moments of hope that help us get out of bed day after day. Leanne is a graduate of the University of Toronto Scarborough's Creative Writing Program and the University of Guelph’s MFA, and is currently completing an EdD in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. She teaches seminars in disability arts and BIPOC literature at Trinity College and is a co-founder of Mata Ashita, a national writing circle for Nikkei communities.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

NBM Lab member and editor of Canadian Family Physician, Nick Pimlott, sat down with us to discuss his experiences as a family doctor and second career as a writer.About Our Guest:Nick Pimlott is an academic family physician based in Toronto whose clinical and research interests include dementia care by family physicians, care of the elderly, and the development and application of clinical practice guidelines in family medicine and postgraduate family medicine education.He is also the Scientific Editor of Canadian Family Physician with a strong interest in promoting family medicine clinical and education research.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

In this fascinating conversation, Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Health Humanities Theme Lead) brings her attentive eye to such diverse issues as medical education, mindfulness, high performance, and the practitioner’s body, considering how they all relate back to the questions raised by narrative-based medicine.She also reflects on her own professional journey and the value of engaging with the arts and humanities in medical training and practice.About Our Guest:Sarah Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, where she also serves as the Temerty Medicine Health Humanities Theme Lead. Within her medical and teaching practice, Sarah integrates the arts and humanities, mindfulness meditation, and somatic education as generative components of practitioner resilience and system sustainability.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.