Narrative Medicine
A breast cancer survivor and narrative medicine specialist, Nelly Edmondson helps organizations understand what narrative medicine is, and how it can be used to improve health outcomes.
Nelly Edmondson has written about health long enough to recognize that behind every patient and every illness, there is a story… whether told or untold. Clinicians, patients, and allied healthcare professionals all come to the table with stories. These narratives not only influence patient outcomes, they also affect how health professionals do their job.
As a narrative medicine specialist with a Master’s degree in narrative medicine from Columbia University, Nelly works with medical schools, hospitals, and other healthcare companies and institutions. Her curriculum teaches health professionals to recognize and interpret their own stories, not just as a means of channeling empathy, but also as a concrete tool to improve clinical competency.
Nelly brings narrative medicine to:
Medical schools
Narrative medicine is a form of resilience training for medical students. This is particularly important during the “clerkship” year, when med students get clinical practice in different areas of medicine. Narrative medicine can help them be aware how their feelings affect their interactions with patients, which helps them better prepare to be healthcare providers. (Read what the Association for American Medical Colleges has to say about the difference narrative medicine makes for med students.)
Colleges and universities
Narrative medicine benefits a wide range of professionals, from social work and psychology to design and architecture (since patients interact with healthcare spaces). Nelly can tailor her curriculum for any classroom or group of undergraduate or graduate students.
Hospitals and healthcare practices
Nelly works with both patients and providers in clinical and other settings to help them understand the power of stories. Narrative medicine is a way of exposing people to the language of emotion, which helps people better cope with situations and even helps them heal. Research is emerging about the benefits of narrative medicine for both practitioners and patients.
If your organization is interested in learning more about Nelly’s narrative medicine workshops, contact Nelly.
She’d love to bring the benefits of narrative medicine to your staff, students, or members.
Workshops
An expressive writing workshop helps people write their way through illness and recovery, and an expressive writing/art journaling workshop helps people who are interested in personal growth and reflection.
Portfolio
Browse Nelly’s recent work in health and medical feature writing and content marketing for healthcare organizations.
About Nelly
Words have served Nelly well throughout her professional career. How can she help your publication or organization harness the power of words?