Although I’ve personally been drawn to the stories of people with illness and disability, I also realize that stories in medicine arise from both sides of health care. Albeit it was admittedly strange (given that I am used to being a listener to these stories), I was excited to have the opportunity to tell my own story about my experiences as a medical student and someday health professional.
Inside Stories is an oral narratives project which invites medical students to share their experiences in medical school in the form of brief podcasts published and archived on in-Training, an online medical student community. The curator of these stories, Annie Robinson, makes space for medical students across the country to share experiences that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to share. Moreover, it seems to me as though these stories can serve a similar function as do many online illness narratives by bridging together medical students. These exemplify how stories can be used to create a community, to connect different people who may be going through similar situations in their medical training.
Take a listen! My story about medicine and about my childhood cancer narrative research.
Investigating Illness Narratives 