Assessing a faculty development workshop in narrative medicine

Abstract

Background: Narrative medicine is increasingly popular in undergraduate medical curricula. Moreover, although faculty are expected to use narrative approaches in teaching, few faculty development learning activities have been described. In addition, data on the impact of faculty development initiatives designed to teach narrative are limited, and there is a paucity of tools to assess their impact.

Aims: To assess the impact and outcomes of a faculty development workshop on narrative medicine.

Methods: Two groups of clinical teachers were studied; one group had already attended a half-day narrative medicine workshop (N = 10) while the other had not yet attended (N = 9). Both groups were interviewed about their uses of narrative in teaching and practice. Additionally, the understanding of a set of narrative skills was assessed by first viewing a video of a narrative-based teaching session followed by completion of an 18-item assessment tool.

Results: Both groups reported that they used narrative in both their teaching and clinical practice. Those who had attended the workshop articulated a more nuanced understanding of narrative terms compared to those who had not yet attended.

Conclusion: This study is one of the first to describe measureable impacts of a faculty development workshop on narrative medicine.