Storytelling and Relational Identity: Lived Experiences in Medical Education (Part I)

04/28/22 • 41 min

This is episode #16 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 28th of April, 2022.

Today, I sat down with Dr. Sally Warmington, a retired medical doctor and narrative researcher from Melbourne, Australia with a deep interest in the encounter between health professionals and those seeking care. Her experiences as a doctor, student, teacher and patient inform her research at the intersection of anthropology, cultural theory and linguistics. Her book "Storytelling encounters as medical education: crafting relational identity" demonstrates the key role of storytelling in medical education and practice and its potential to promote collaborative, better quality care.

We had a fascinating discussion on many important topics covered in Sally’s book, but the episode went over the usual podcast duration, so I’ve decided to split it into two parts.

We started talking about the importance of storytelling in clinical context and that of identity work — how storytelling tells something about who we are in relation to others. The focus here is not only how people become doctors, but also what kinds of people emerge from contemporary clinical training and how students play an active part in their own identity construction. We also talked about the role the analyst plays in such research — their training, language, cultural orientation, memories as an investigator influencing the study. As investigators, Sally believes, we should apply what she calls “ethical mindfulness” — paying close attention to the participants, but also to our own sensations, perceptions and emotional responses, process which requires an acute self-awareness and an awareness of others.

In Part II, we talked about the connection between storytelling and empathy, its role in clinical settings and medical education, and the importance of helping students develop an awareness of the emotional and relational aspects of the clinical encounter.

This is Part I of the episode.

Show Notes:
- the role of stories and storytelling in clinical practice
- identity construction; identity dissonance
- empathy and the formation of professional identities
- “ethical mindfulness” and cognitive and sensory self-awareness in clinical practice
- the analyst’s role in clinical research

Note:
Link to Dr. Warmington’s book:

"Storytelling encounters as medical education: crafting relational identity" is available on the Routledge website:
https://www.routledge.com/Storytelling-Encounters-as-Medical-Education-Crafting-Relational-Identity/Warmington/p/book/9781032177007#

This is episode #16 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 28th of April, 2022.

We had a fascinating discussion on many important topics covered in Sally’s book, but the episode went over the usual podcast duration, so I’ve decided to split it into two parts.

This is Part I of the episode.

Note:
Link to Dr. Warmington’s book:

Previous Episode

Nostalgia and Nostalgic Experience: Connecting the Past, the Present, and the Future

This is episode #15 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 14th of April, 2022.
My invited speaker today is Dr. Clay Routledge, an existential psychologist and the Arden and Donna Hetland Distinguished Professor of Business at North Dakota State University, the director of the Psychology of Progress Project, a faculty scholar at the Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth, a senior research fellow at Archbridge Institute, and an editor for Profectus, a periodic web-based magazine focused on civilizational progress and human flourishing.
Our topic of discussion is nostalgia and nostalgic experience. Nostalgia is generally defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past. We started by summarizing the concept’s long history of three millennia, where it received different characterizations, and then moved to how people understand and experience nostalgia today. While nostalgia is a past-oriented emotion that has implications for the present, as it leads to increments in self-esteem, it also has implications for the future.
The second part of the discussion moved toward technology when we talked about the possibility of using immersive technologies to experience nostalgic moments. Here is the show.
Show Notes:

- nostalgia and nostalgic experience
- the concept’s history of three millennia and its different characterizations
- methodological approaches to understanding nostalgia
- nostalgia and the cross-cultural lexicon
- nostalgic reverie
- scent-evoked nostalgia and self-esteem
- nostalgia, a past-oriented emotion with implications for the present and for the future
- does our current (scientific) understanding of nostalgia allow us to experience it in virtual reality?
Links:
https://www.psychologyofprogress.org/

Next Episode

Storytelling and Relational Identity: Lived Experiences in Medical Education (Part II)

This is episode #17th of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 12th of May, 2022.

I sat down with Dr. Sally Warmington, a retired medical doctor and narrative researcher from Melbourne, Australia with a deep interest in the encounter between health professionals and those seeking care. Her experiences as a doctor, student, teacher and patient inform her research at the intersection of anthropology, cultural theory and linguistics. Her book "Storytelling encounters as medical education: crafting relational identity" demonstrates the key role of storytelling in medical education and practice and its potential to promote collaborative, better quality care.

We had a fascinating discussion on many important topics covered in Sally’s book, but the episode went over the usual podcast duration, so I’ve decided to split it into two parts. This is Part II.

We continued our discussion from Part I on ethics in clinical practice, focusing on the concept of ‘ethical mindfulness’ — how to bring in and apply ethical values in research. We then moved to the importance of medical students’ reflective writing, process which allows students to become more aware of the emotional and relational aspects of the clinical encounter. And, in this context, we explored various options to the questions “Do patients’ stories matter? And, are doctors aware of their importance?” Dr. Warmington argues for a universal adoption of practices that promote dialogic engagement between medical students, clinical teachers, and patients, giving us lots of examples from her own research and clinical experience.

Here is the show.
Show Notes:

ethical mindfulness in research and clinical practice

reflective writing in medical teaching practice

how should we approach medical care?

toward a universal adoption for practices that promote dialogic engagement between students, clinical teachers, and patients.

Can empathy be taught? (The need to look for another way of framing the issues around the clinical encounter)

detached concern vs. engagement practice in medical encounters

Note:

Link to Dr. Warmington’s book:

"Storytelling encounters as medical education: crafting relational identity" is available on the Routledge website:

https://www.routledge.com/Storytelling-Encounters-as-Medical-Education-Crafting-Relational-Identity/Warmington/p/book/9781032177007#

Her research papers can be found on Google Scholar.