On June 5th, I’ll be giving a 20 minute presentation about my thesis research project to the entire Pediatric Oncology care team at Mott Children’s Hospital. Physicians (attendings, fellows, residents, medical students), nurses, nurse practitioners: all the individuals involved in the care of these children will be introduced to what my research is all about.
In preparation for this incredible honor, I wanted to participate in the Show & Tell series conducted by the Office of Enabling Technologies office at the Med School. My colleagues at Open.Michigan and ET are some of the most enthusiastic and supportive individuals I’ve met; I wanted to get their feedback about my presentation and give them a better sense of what I’m doing outside the office.
Overall, I would say that the presentation went pretty well. There’s still more for me to work on (as always), but it was interesting to find how much my passion for the project helped me organize and convey my thoughts.
Here’s the abstract and slides from the Show & Tell presentation–
Topic: Chronicling Childhood Cancer: Illuminating the Illness Experience through Narrative
Illness narratives, stories about the experience of being ill, are becoming increasingly appreciated by health professionals and by patients. I’ll be presenting about my own research in this realm at Mott, exploring how children with cancer express their illness experience through narrative. I’d like to have a discussion about what can be done with these narratives (publishing a book, etc.) and how technology can be involved in extending research that is centered on the patient experience. I’ll be giving a similar presentation about my research project to the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology department in June, so I’d appreciate any feedback about the presentation and the future of this project.
Investigating Illness Narratives 