PED 6230 (2025/2026)

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State: PUBLISHED

Course: PED 6230 - Writing as Self Discovery: Using Literature to Prompt Reflection and Personal Insight

Description: Brief Description of Course:

Students will meet regularly to engage in a core narrative medicine method, which uses close study of a text and reflective writing to practice the essential clinical skills of attention, representation, and affiliation. This course uses a process developed by the founder of Narrative Medicine, Rita Charon, MD, PhD (see references below). Under the guidance of Dr. Richards, who worked closely with Dr. Charon for nearly a decade at Columbia University, participants will read deeply a selected work of art in class, discuss reactions and observations, and then write for less than 5 minutes to a prompt. Dr. Richards will select artworks and prompts relevant to medical students' lived experience, and students are encouraged to share their own ideas of texts, including but not limited to poetry, short stories, film clips, visual art, and more. The course will end with an assignment to write a "signature reflection"-a reflection about prior reflections.

Course Objectives:

As a result of successfully completing the "Writing as Self-Discovery Elective Course," students will be able to:

1. Engage comfortably in deep reading of literary and other works of art and discuss the multiple perspectives in a group as a way to hone the essential skill of perspective-taking.

2.Gain insight about themselves and each other as physicians-in-the-making by writing and sharing personal reflections in the shadow of previously encountered literary and art works.

3.Appreciate the role of personal values, goals, and experience as a foundation for career development and resilience.