Monica Kidd reads an excerpt from her new novel The Crane (Breakwater, 2025).

In this wide-ranging conversation — author, physician, journalist, editor, mother, and Antarctic expedition guide (and much else) — Monica Kidd discusses the origins of her new novel The Crane. She also shares her creative advice for doctor-writers (“notice everything, dismiss nothing”), and tells us what she’s keeping an eye out for in her role as editor of the CMAJ Encounters column.

About Our Guest:

Monica Kidd is an award-winning multidisciplinary writer, journalist, and physician. She has published eight books of fiction poetry and non-fiction, including her new novel The Crane (Breakwater, 2025), and her creative work has appeared in many literary magazines, winning the Edna Staebler Award for Personal Essay and National Magazine Awards.

Previously a reporter with CBC, her freelance writing has been featured in The Walrus, Canadian Geographic, Alberta Views, and other outlets. Monica studied ecology and evolutionary biology, then attended medical school at Memorial University.

She now works as a family doctor specializing in child and maternal health, medical humanities, and equity. She has teaching roles at the University of Calgary and Memorial University and serves as Associate Editor of Humanities at the Canadian Medical Association Journal. She divides her time between Calgary and St. John’s.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab to learn about our work and offerings.

Author and Foundational Certificate alum Leanne Toshiko Simpson shares her thoughts on the connections between her fiction writing and her path in the health humanities, and speaks about the inspiration behind her new novel Never Been Better (HarperCollins, 2024), out now.

About Our Guest:

Leanne Toshiko Simpson is a mixed-race Yonsei writer, educator, and psychiatric survivor from Toronto. She loves writing joyful, messy, laugh-out-loud stories about living with mental illness, and the moments of hope that help us get out of bed day after day.

Leanne is a graduate of the University of Toronto Scarborough's Creative Writing Program and the University of Guelph’s MFA, and is currently completing an EdD in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. She teaches seminars in disability arts and BIPOC literature at Trinity College and is a co-founder of Mata Ashita, a national writing circle for Nikkei communities.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Nick Pimlott shares a reflection on his early days as a family physician, touching on the influence of John Berger's classic book A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor.

NBM Lab member and editor of Canadian Family Physician, Nick Pimlott, sat down with us to discuss his experiences as a family doctor and second career as a writer.

About Our Guest:

Nick Pimlott is an academic family physician based in Toronto whose clinical and research interests include dementia care by family physicians, care of the elderly, and the development and application of clinical practice guidelines in family medicine and postgraduate family medicine education.

He is also the Scientific Editor of Canadian Family Physician with a strong interest in promoting family medicine clinical and education research.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

This original poem by Sarah Kim presents a long-held objection to the distant and impersonal approach towards patients that is traditionally assumed by physicians. An alternative is a path towards collective compassion in relationship-based care.

In this fascinating conversation, Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Health Humanities Theme Lead) brings her attentive eye to such diverse issues as medical education, mindfulness, high performance, and the practitioner’s body, considering how they all relate back to the questions raised by narrative-based medicine.

She also reflects on her own professional journey and the value of engaging with the arts and humanities in medical training and practice.

About Our Guest:

Sarah Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, where she also serves as the Temerty Medicine Health Humanities Theme Lead. Within her medical and teaching practice, Sarah integrates the arts and humanities, mindfulness meditation, and somatic education as generative components of practitioner resilience and system sustainability.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Alisha Kaplan reads an original poem developed out of a daily practice that consisted of writing a haiku each morning during a period of her life navigating graduate school and health.

Poet and NBM Lab member, Alisha Kaplan, discusses her work, narrative-based medicine teaching, writing tips, and connections to her life on Bela Farm. She also shares her work and interest in food as medicine.

About Our Guest:

Alisha Kaplan is a poet, educator, and practitioner of narrative medicine. Using the arts, she works with health professionals and patients to reinvigorate medicine with care and humanity.

Alisha is also a food is medicine advocate. She splits her time between Toronto and Bela Farm, where she grows garlic, harvests honey and wild plant medicine, and hosts barn dances. Her poetry collection, Qorbanot: Offerings, a collaboration with artist Tobi Kahn, won the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award from the League of Canadian Poets.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab to learn about our work and offerings.

Paula Holmes-Rodman reflects on her mother’s passing in this poignant reading of a creative non-fiction piece originally published in Intima: The Journal of Narrative Medicine.

Foundational Certificate alum Paula Holmes-Rodman is an ethnographer, writer, caregiver, and advocate who spoke with our program leads about her journey towards narrative-based medicine and her current work in the field.

About Our Guest:

Based in Courtenay, British Columbia, Paula Holmes-Rodman is an anthropologist, writer, caregiver, and an advocate for cancer patients on the autism spectrum. She uses her expertise in narrative-based medicine and personal caregiving experiences to support cancer patients and their families.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Jeff Thompson shares one of his collaborators' definitions of “awe,” which prompts us to consider how we can experience moments of wonder, amazement, and grandeur (or awe) amidst our daily routines.

Allan Peterkin, program director at the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab, is leading the growth of narrative-based medicine in Canada and abroad.

In this conversation with our program leads, Allan shares how he weaves his passion for medicine and literature throughout his professional career. Allan also touches on how he sees the field of narrative-based medicine evolving and the importance of honouring stories in the practice of medicine.

About Our Guest:

A leader in health humanities and narrative-based medicine, Allan Peterkin is a Full Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at the University of Toronto. He founded the Health, Arts and Humanities initiative and served as the inaugural Humanities Faculty Lead for Undergraduate Medical Education, Postgraduate Medical Education, and Continuing Professional Development.

Allan was a co-founder of Creating Space (Canada’s annual medical humanities meeting), and was instrumental in founding the Canadian Association for Health Humanities. He has always been interested in the interface between medicine and storytelling. Allan has written/edited 15 books on subjects as varied as cultural history, human sexuality, physician health, and narrative-based medicine.

Note: Meant to refer to Canadian Grief Alliance at 18:21 mark in the episode.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

This conversation was originally recorded in March 2024.

Geriatrician Mireille Norris (Temerty Medical Education Black Health Theme Lead at the University of Toronto) shares how we can continue to engage in important dialogue year-round through the arts and humanities in this conversation with Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Health Humanities Theme Lead at the University of Toronto). Reflecting on words that serve as an inspiration, Mireille returns to Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” in which the poet writes:

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

For Mireille, these words “remind me that I am a part of the universe and — like the universe — I am submitted to uncontrollable forces such that whatever is going on that might be hard, will not be forever.”

About Our Guest:

Mireille Norris is an internist and geriatrician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Associate Professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. Her practice and work focuses on dementia care, fall prevention, quality improvement, and medical education.

Her interest in underrepresented physician education has been enhanced by the experience of recruiting and mentoring international medical graduates for the Hospitalist Training Program. Her own experience as a Black female French speaking physician was instrumental in empowering her trainees who are now successful in many provinces, the United States, and Europe.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Upreet Dhaliwal reads an original poem reflecting on how relationships ebb and flow. This poem was originally published in her collection InVerse Medicine: Poems About Things Often Left Unsaid.

Upreet Dhaliwal reads an original poem from her collection InVerse Medicine: Poems About Things Often Left Unsaid.

Foundational Certificate alum Upreet Dhaliwal's work draws upon her rich background as a physician, educator, poet, and editor. She discusses her professional journey towards narrative-based medicine with our program leads in this illuminating conversation.

About Our Guest:

Upreet Dhaliwal is a retired director-professor who worked for 30 years at the University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India. She trained as an ophthalmologist and spent the happiest years of her life as one.

Her particular interests lie in poetry, reflective narratives, and story telling as ways to explore ethical dilemmas. She is also the founding editor of the peer reviewed, open access, and online journal: RHiME: Research & Humanities in Medical Education. This is the only journal in India that is devoted entirely to the humanities in health professions education.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Conor Mc Donnell reads an original, ekphrastic poem meditating on Francis Bacon’s painting “Study for the Nurse in Battleship Potemkin.”

Conor Mc Donnell reads an original poem that opens his first collection of poems Recovery Community (Mansfield Press, 2020).

Conor Mc Donnell reads an original poem that considers human anatomy from a different perspective.

Conor Mc Donnell, Foundational Certificate alum and anesthesiologist at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, reflects on his introduction to narrative-based medicine and the value that writing has brought to his personal and professional life in this fruitful conversation with our program leads.

About Our Guest:

Conor Mc Donnell is a staff anesthesiologist at SickKids Hospital and associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. After completing the University of Toronto School for Continuing Studies Creative Writing Program in 2015, he published his first poems in 2016, his first chapbook in 2017, and his first poetry collection in 2021. His latest poetry collection, This Insistent List published by Mansfield Press, is out now.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Miriam Colleran reflects on the passage of time in this original poem published in Sparks of Calliope: A Journal of Poetic Observations.

Jeff Thompson is a research psychologist and scientist, and retired NYPD police detective and hostage negotiator with more than 20 years of experience.

Joining us from New York City, Jeff shares his journey into narrative-based medicine, and the ways in which narrative tools can help us remain calm in high pressure situations and moments of crisis. Jeff also shares his approach to “stories as science” as well as other aspects of his work such as The Awe Project, his book warr;or21, and his current work with NASA.

Referenced in this episode: Psychology Today Beyond Words Blog

About Our Guest:

Jeff Thompson engages in work and research to better humankind here on Earth and beyond. He recently completed his second doctorate at Edinburgh Napier University in Narrative Psychology where his research supported hostage negotiators, NASA healthcare professionals, and others. Jeff is also a researcher at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center and the College of Leadership and Public Service at Lipscomb University.

He retired from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 2022 after serving more than 20 years in the rank of detective having served in roles as a hostage negotiator and their first-ever mental health and wellness coordinator helping to oversee the well-being of 50,000 people, both uniformed and civilian.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Miriam Colleran remembers a parent through the power of memories in this original poem published in Sparks of Calliope: A Journal of Poetic Observations.

Miriam Colleran, Foundational Certificate alum and palliative care physician in Ireland, joined our program leads for a special conversation in person while she was in Toronto. She shares her introduction to narrative-based medicine and discusses how engaging with narrative methods has changed her practice.

About Our Guest:

Miriam Colleran is a consultant in palliative medicine in Ireland. She completed an MD on the impact of advanced cancer on sexuality using qualitative research. She is interested in medical humanities and narrative-based medicine, healthcare communication, compassionate care, and the lived experience of illness. She has published poetry on grief and loss.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab to learn about our work and offerings.

Jordan Goodridge is a family physician, clinical educator, and 2SLGBTQIA+ health advocate, who seeks to advance medical education through equity, diversity, and inclusion in medicine. In this conversation with Sarah Kim, we explore how storytelling in film and narrative can be reflective of lived experiences of trans and gender-diverse patient populations and how they can be used to inform meaningful patient interactions.

Jordan shares reflections on how the health humanities can help future physicians recognize their own biases, understand intersecting patient identities, and cultivate the empathy needed to serve all patients with dignity and respect.

The poem referenced is "Munich, Winter 1973 (for Y.S.)" by James Baldwin, one of the first prominent Black writers to weave queer themes into fiction. The speaker in this poem feels "strange," as if an outsider in his own home, yet filled with impatient anticipation and excitement at the thought of his lover’s imminent return.

About Our Guest:

Jordan Goodridge is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and serves as the Temerty Medicine 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Education Theme Lead. He works at multiple locations in Toronto and the GTA, providing primary care, HIV care, and focused care in 2SLGBTQIA+ health. He has a strong interest in medical education, particularly in areas such as gender-affirming care, HIV primary care, and sexual health.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Lisa Richardson shares insights from her years of experience in the health humanities, including her involvement with projects such as the Seeds of Change art initiative, and invites us to expand our perspective on different ways of knowing, seeing, and communicating in this illuminating conversation with Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Health Humanities Theme Lead).

Lisa also speaks to the transformative role that the arts and humanities can play in reconciliation and our understanding of medical culture. In closing, Lisa reminds us about our deep interconnectivity as humans and reads an excerpt from Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations by Richard Wagamese.

About Our Guest:

Lisa Richardson is Associate Dean, Inclusion & Diversity and Interim Vice Dean, Strategy at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Lisa is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and practices general internal medicine at University Health Network. Her academic interests lie in the integration of critical, Indigenous, and feminist perspectives in medical education.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Sarah de Leeuw reads from her poetry collection: Pine. Her vivid imagery explores wildfire-scarred geographies and the profound shifts of middle age that culminate in reflections on change, resilience, and the deep connections between land and self.

Writer, researcher, and professor Sarah de Leeuw joins us for a reflection on her professional journey and how she discovered the power of narrative in her own work. Sarah shares insights from her academic and creative practice, exploring the intersections of geography, colonialism, and personal experience.

About Our Guest:

Sarah de Leeuw is Canada Research Chair in Humanities and Health Inequities at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her research focuses on colonialism in British Columbia, determinants of Indigenous health, and the impact of medical programs in northern and rural areas.

Sarah's work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the CBC Literary Award for creative non-fiction and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. In 2017, she was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada. She’s also a member of the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab’s International Advisory Board.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Muiris Houston reads a creative piece that began from a visual writing prompt facilitated by Damian Tarnopolsky in a section of the Foundational Certificate in Narrative-Based Medicine.

Based in Dublin, Muiris Houston is a physician and journalist, and sits on the NBM Lab’s International Advisory Board. In this wide-ranging conversation he discusses his work in writing and medicine, and the challenges and opportunities narrative-based medicine faces today.

About Our Guest:

Muiris Houston is especially interested in the stories patients tell, which led him to complete a master's degree in medical Humanities at the University of Sydney, Australia. Muiris is an adjunct professor of narrative-based medicine at Trinity College Dublin, his alma mater ,where he teaches narrative medicine modules to first- and third-year medical students. He is also an award-winning medical writer and health analyst with The Irish Times.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Petal Abdool reads "The Tree of Life," a poem first penned in her youth and completed years later. Listen along and trace the passage of time woven through its lines.

Petal Abdool shares how storytelling and lived experience bring medicine to life: from actors performing King Lear to help psychiatry residents reflect on aging to stepping into a geriatric suit to feel the physical challenges of growing older. She sheds light on how these immersive, hands-on experiences go beyond textbooks to help learners connect more deeply with their patients.

About Our Guest:

Petal Abdool is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a geriatric psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

She is the Medical Director of the CAMH Simulation Centre and Faculty Lead for Simulation Education Integration at Postgraduate Medical Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, where her research focuses on simulation-based medical education and care for seniors experiencing homelessness and living with severe mental illness.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Ryan Giroux reflects on his journey as a Métis physician, exploring identity, marginalization in Canada, and the struggle of belonging that shaped a resilient and distinct Métis culture in this personal narrative.

Ryan Giroux shares how his experiences as an Indigenous resident inspired his work to support Indigenous learners in medicine. He discusses creating more inclusive residency training by fostering strong relationships among learners, faculty, and support staff. Through narrative-based medicine, he honours the stories of colleagues and transforms them into meaningful change in medical education and patient care.

About Our Guest:

Ryan Giroux is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto and a general paediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto focusing on urban Indigenous child health.

He serves as the Postgraduate Medical Education Indigenous Health Faculty Lead at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and an Indigenous Educator with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He also serves on the Canadian Paediatric Society’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Health Committee, contributing to national advocacy and education efforts.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Rory O'Sullivan reads from an original short narrative, "Teachings," which first appeared in Pulse in 2024.

In this episode, Rory O'Sullivan chats with us about his work as a writer and family physician. He shares the place that writing holds in his life and how it interacts with his clinical work, as well as offering advice on balancing careers and thoughts on publication strategies for those starting out. Rory also shares the latest on his pseudonymous psychological thriller: Waking on the Ground.

About Our Guest:

Rory O'Sullivan is a family doctor who practices comprehensive family medicine at the Garrison Creek Clinic in Toronto. In his 12 years in practice, Rory has worked in emergency rooms and hospitals across several provinces and served for nearly 3 years as the community physician for the Poplar Hill First Nation in Northwestern Ontario.

He is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Toronto, where he teaches reflective practice as part of the portfolio course for undergraduate medical students, and is currently enrolled in the NBM Lab’s Advanced Certificate.

His written work has been published in medical journals and magazines including The Intima, Pulse, and Canadian Family Physician. He is a past recipient of the CFPC Mimi Divinsky Award for history and narrative in family medicine, and a long-listed finalist for the International Amy MacRae Award for memoir. His latest publication Waking on the Ground is a novella written under the pen name "Eamon Rourke," available on Kobo and Kindle platforms.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Darian Goldin Stahl invites us to expand our perspective on what a book is, and what the act of reading a book entails, as she shares an excerpt from the introduction of Embodied Books: Experiencing the Health Humanities through Artists’ Books (Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2024).

Artist and scholar Darian Goldin Stahl joins us for a conversation about her work making (and teaching others to make) embodied books: beautiful, physical manifestations of health stories. Darian shares how her work in this field has origins in her family history and a family collaboration, which has become a profoundly original and generative approach to health humanities over time.

About Our Guest:

Darian Goldin Stahl is an interdisciplinary printmaker whose work explores themes of healthcare, disability, and well-being. After earning an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Alberta, she completed a research-creation PhD in Humanities at Concordia. Her dissertation, Embodied Books: Experiencing the Health Humanities through Artists’ Books, was published by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers in 2024.

She was awarded a SSHRC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the UNBC Northern Medical Program, which she used to launch the Embodied Books Project. This initiative empowers intrepid bookmakers to create new artists’ books on personal medical experiences.

Her own artist’s books are included in many prominent permanent collections around the world, such as the Wellcome Collection in London, the Moody Library at Baylor University in Texas, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, and the Herron Library at Indiana University.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

John Launer, educator, writer, and retired family physician and family therapist, joins us from across the pond just outside London, UK to discuss his career and the state of the narrative-based medicine field. John shares examples from his own career where he's witnessed the power of narrative at work in clinical settings, reminding us about the importance of allowing stories to develop, flow, and breathe in order to see patients as human beings first.

He also shares thoughts on the possibilities offered by AI in general practice and how it might be a narrative tool. John's recommended reading is Fighting for the Soul of General Practice: The Algorithm Will See You Now by Rupal Shah and Jens Foell.

About Our Guest:

John Launer is a retired family physician and family therapist, now working as a full-time educator and writer. He is also a member of the NBM Lab's International Advisory Board. John has taught internationally on the application of narrative ideas and skills to medical practice including patient encounters, supervision, and teamwork.

His posts include Honorary Lifetime Consultant at the Tavistock Clinic in London and Honorary Associate Professor at University College London. He is the author or editor of ten books including Narrative-Based Practice in Health and Social Care: Conversations Inviting Change and writes a regular column for the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Conor Mc Donnell reads a passage from his new book of poetry What We Know So Far Is... (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). Filled with vivid imagery, literary allusions, contemplations on the role of language, and cultural references, Conor joins the revival of the long poem movement.

This recording accompanies a feature article about Conor's latest publication, available for reading over on the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab.

Published by Wolsak & Wynn, What We Know So Far Is… is out now and available for order online and from your local bookstore.

Jay Baruch, physician, writer, and member of the NBM Lab's International Advisory Board, joins us from Providence, Rhode Island to trace where his interest in story, narrative, and medicine began. Jay shares stories from his career that illustrate how we can keep these interests joined and alive. In particular, he describes the benefits that working narratively has in the emergency room. Jay also shares his writing process and some exciting news about his current writing projects.

About Our Guest:

Jay Baruch is a writer, emergency room doctor, educator, and Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where he serves as the Director of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Scholarly Concentration. His academic and creative work centers on the complexity and uncertainty in patient care and the importance of creativity, interdisciplinarity, and the arts as clinical skills.

His latest book of non-fiction essays is Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the Emergency Room (MIT Press, 2022). He’s the author of two short fiction collections: What’s Left Out (Kent State UP, 2015) and Fourteen Stories: Doctors, Patients, and Other Strangers (Kent State UP, 2007).

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Anne Matlow shares how narrative reflection can shape leadership and professional development in healthcare. Anne elaborates on how practices like journaling can help clinicians pause, reflect, and improve health care practices. She reflects on the power of the be-do-have personal development framework and the importance of vertical development, which can help us continuously expand our perspectives.

About Our Guest:

Anne Matlow is Professor Emerita of Medicine and Paediatrics at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, where she serves as Faculty Lead for Postgraduate Leadership. She co-directs the Leadership Certificate Program at PGME and the Coaching Essentials for Healthcare Professionals Certificate Program at CPD, which offer skills training to advance leadership capacity amongst health professionals.

Anne is recognized internationally for her work in healthcare quality, patient safety, and medical leadership education through her involvement with initiatives at the University of Toronto, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Sanokondu, and LEADS Global. As a certified executive coach, she aims to support leaders at all levels in achieving their personal and professional goals, with the ultimate goal of improving the culture of medicine and the wellness and fulfilment of those who provide care.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Rita Charon joins us from Columbia University in New York City and reflects on the origins of narrative medicine as one of the field’s founders. She tells the story of the field's development over time into the internationally significant area of thought and practice that it is today. Rita also considers the key questions facing the future of the field and shares news about some exciting current projects that are taking narrative medicine still farther afield.

About Our Guest:

Rita Charon is a general internist, literary scholar, and one of the founders of the field of narrative medicine. She is the Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine, the founding Chair of the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics, and Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons. She is also the Executive Director of Columbia Narrative Medicine.

Her research investigates narrative medicine training, reflective practice, health care justice, and health care team effectiveness and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). She delivered the Jefferson Lecture in 2018, the highest academic distinction awarded by the NEH.

Rita authored Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness (Oxford UP, 2006) and co-authored The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine (Oxford UP, 2016). She lectures and teaches internationally and is regularly published in leading medical and literary journals.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Sayantani DasGupta shares a creative work in progress that reflects on the difficulty of writing during uncertain times. The piece explores the fear, vulnerability, and responsibility that can accompany creative expression in moments of political and social instability.

This reading is an excerpt from a longer piece that originally appeared on Literary Hub in February 2026 entitled "How Do We Keep Writing When They Are Killing Poets? available here: https://lithub.com/how-do-we-keep-writing-when-they-are-killing-poets/

Excerpted reading featured with permission from the author and Literary Hub.

In this episode, Sayantani DasGupta reflects on how growing up in an activist family shaped her view of medicine as a tool for social justice. She discusses the resonances between her work as a paediatrician supporting children's health, as an educator facilitating the intellectual and emotional growth of learners, and as an author nurturing the imagination of young readers. Together, these perspectives demonstrate how storytelling and representation can help people see themselves more fully in the world and in healthcare.

About Our Guest:

Sayantani DasGupta is a paediatrician and Senior Lecturer in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She is a faculty member in the Master’s Program in Narrative Medicine as well as the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.

Trained in public health, Sayantani’s work focuses on narrative humility, medical education, racial justice and health, diaspora studies, and science fiction and health futurities. Her writing has appeared in journals such as The Lancet, JAMA, and The Journal of Pediatrics. She serves as an associate editor of Literature and Medicine. She is also a New York Times bestselling children’s author and co-author of The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine (Oxford UP, 2016).

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Patricia Houston reflects on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of collaboration across multidisciplinary healthcare teams, including how shared responsibility, communication, and mutual support shaped patient care and strengthened resilience in the face of uncertainty.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Patricia Houston (Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine) is a longstanding leader in health professions education. In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on the extraordinary privilege that comes with caring for others as a health professional and the importance of understanding the full context and the people at the centre of the stories that we receive.

Reflecting on her work as an anesthesiologist in Toronto during both the SARS outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, Patricia shares how these experiences shaped her collaborative approach to leadership and discusses her journey, values, and the ideas that have influenced how she leads and supports healthcare teams today.

About Our Guest:

Patricia Houston serves as Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine where she offers strategic leadership to align learner supports and programs, faculty processes, and systems across the continuum of medical education. This portfolio includes undergraduate medical education (MD Program), residency and fellowship training (Postgraduate Medical Education), continuing professional development (CPD), as well as programs that train the next generation of physician scientists and physician assistants.

A Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto and Former President of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, Patricia is widely recognized for her contributions to collaborative healthcare leadership.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.