Narrative medicine and reflective exercises have been a
very important tool in the education of medical professionals. With social media's integration into the
fabric of society, it is important for today's trainees to understand the
implications of public storytelling on one's professional persona. This recent editorial and article on the topic in the journal Academic Medicine this month describe the divide between digital natives and
digital immigrants, and how each might have different viewpoints of how
storytelling is disseminated.
And then here is another recent piece in the Atlantic
about the topic, in which the author reflects on her writing about a patient experience and
whether it should or should not be published.
I don’t claim to have any of the answers for this
myself. What is the correct approach to
disseminating storytelling or narratives about patient encounters? Do others learn from it or not? Some pioneers are addressing this situation
directly. Dr. Bryan Vartabedian, who has
spoken at our institution about the public physician, has just announced a MOOC related to Medicine in the Digital Age.
What I do know is that medical schools really MUST teach
this material to students and trainees.
It is our obligation to the future of the profession to understand
digital literacy and the impact of our storytelling on patients, each other and
ourselves, given how easy it is to push out blogs into the public space.
Thanks for reading.
