NARRATIVE AND MEDICINE 2012

Narrative and Medicine:
Lecture Series and Training Programme 2011


The central objective of this lecture series is to examine a new hybrid area in Portugal, "narrative medicine" also known as “medical humanities", both in terms of research and higher education. This field draws on values acquired from diverse disciplines, such as medicine, literature, philosophy, and other humanistic disciplines.

The concept of Narrative Medicine is based on the belief that the awareness of narrative processes is crucial to medical practice and complements evidence-based methods. Paying attention to stories, not only voiced by patients, but also transmitted by body language, requires time and the capacity to generate empathy. This is enhanced by: a knowledge of how messages are encoded through language; a philosophical reflection on the possibilities of expressing pain; grammars of causes and responsibilities connected with self-reflection; creative processes associated with writing and reading; good communication practices between healthcare professionals and patients; and the whole complexity of sentiment experienced by each party involved in crisis situations. Narrative based medicine honors, develops and enhances the clinical encounter. Literary studies share concerns about hermeneutics and ethics with philosophy and provide the means to identify mechanisms connected with the construction of a narrative or its internalization and comprehension. These features can be used in clinical practice and provide guidelines for treatment.

After an international conference Narrative Medicine: Illness and Dialogue, dedicated to exploring topics and disciplines that find a home in the area of Narrative Medicine (Sept. 2010), the project progresses with a Lecture Series aimed at training healthcare professionals and researchers in the Humanities. The program is being carried out in collaboration with the Sete Rios Health Center and in articulation with Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, Oporto, where it will form the basis of the first curricular unit on "Narrative Medicine" being offered in Portugal in a Medical Degree course. The series will include lectures delivered by renowned experts, who have been responsible for implementing similar programs in Europe and the U.S. as well as pioneers in the area at the national level. Admission will be free and lectures will be held in Lisbon, from March to December 2011, and the last four sessions will be repeated in Oporto and adapted to be part of the teaching program for final year medical students and interns in clinical practice.

The project, which began in the University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (ULICES) in inter-institutional association with the Center for Philosophy of this same University and the Centre for the History of Culture, New University of Lisbon, will now be extended to include other partnerships with national and international research units. It is already associated with the international working group “Interdisciplinary Program on Pain and Suffering”, initially supported by the European Science Foundation.