How does narrative medicine impact medical trainees’ learning of professionalism? A qualitative study

Chien Da Huang*, Chang Chyi Jenq, Kuo Chen Liao, Shu Chung Lii, Chi Hsien Huang, Tsai Yu Wang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Narrative medicine (NM) is an approach involving narrative skills and is regarded as a model for medical humanism and effective medical practice. This study aims to explore how NM impacts medical trainees’ learning of professionalism during a clerkship in a Taiwanese clinical setting. Methods: A qualitative interview study adopting a purposive sampling method was undertaken. Thirty medical trainees participated in this study, including five fifth-year medical students (MSs), ten sixth-year MSs, nine seventh-year MSs, and six postgraduate year (PGY) trainees. Thematic framework analysis was applied, and a modified realist evaluation approach was further used to analyse the interview data. Results: We identified self-exploration, reflection, and awareness of professional identity as mechanisms explaining how NM impacted professionalism learning in our participants. Furthermore, empathy, communication, doctor-patient relationship and understanding patients were identified as the outcomes of the NM intervention for trainees’ learning of professionalism. Conclusions: NM facilitates medical trainees’ self-exploration, reflection, and awareness of professional identity, thereby affecting their learning of professionalism in clinical settings. Adopting NM as an educational intervention in undergraduate medical education could play an important role in professionalism learning, as trainees can thereby be supported to gradually develop self-exploration and reflection capabilities and heightened awareness of professional identity reflectively through a narrative process.

Original languageEnglish
Article number391
JournalBMC Medical Education
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Medical trainees
  • Narrative medicine
  • Professionalism
  • Qualitative study
  • Thematic analysis

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