Reclaiming Narrative in Medicine | Suzanne Koven, MD, MFA

About this episode

This episode discusses the importance of narrative in medical encounters and how it impacts patient care.

Most medical encounters are structured as transactions. The patient comes in with a specific complaint, the medical expert identifies a discrete problem, and a specific intervention is prescribed. But at the heart of a medical encounter is a story. When a patient comes in with a medical problem, the problem cannot be disentangled from their life’s narrative — doing so risks hollowing out the essence of what it means to care for another person. Our guest on this episode is award-winn...

People in this episode

Hosts: Henry Bair, Tyler Johnson

Guest: Suzanne Koven, MD, MFA

Topics covered

• narrative medicine
• patient care
• medical encounters
• storytelling
• healthcare

Keywords

• narrative medicine
• patient stories
• medical encounters
• healthcare narrative
• doctor-patient relationship

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