One facilitator and two students involved in the Open Book Project submitted reflections on their experiences with the program.
Open Book Project
A Narrative Medicine Program for Social Justice and Inclusion
We all have stories. Stories about our lives, our families, our illness, our profession. In medicine, stories offer a way to understand patients by offering a window into "the person that the disease has."
The Open Book Project is a three-semester elective at the Heritage College for first- and second-year students. Students who choose to participate in the Open Book Project elective will join a small group of fellow students and two facilitators weekly to examine a piece of narrative work (think: paintings, lyrics, poems, short stories, etc.) and engage in the practices of narrative medicine including close reading, radical listening and reflective writing. The sessions run 60-90 minutes in length and will require little preparation. Just come ready to be an active participant and “respectful and humble witness.”
Open Book Project Goals
- Learn what narrative medicine is and how to think narratively.
- Develop and practice skills of narrative medicine including close reading, radical listening, reflective writing.
- Explore different ideologies and worldviews using a narrative approach.
- Apply a narrative lens/framework to complex issues of social justice, inequities and disparities.
- Reflect on applying narrative approaches to interpersonal and clinical relationships.
For more information about enrolling in the Open Book Project elective series as a first-year student, please email the instructor of record, Sharon Casapulla, Ed.D., MPH, at casapull@ohio.edu
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Published Articles by the Open Book Project Team
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Collaboration with Kennedy Museum of Art
In January 2020, the Kennedy Museum of Art added a studio component to their collaborative programming with medical students and faculty as part of the Open Book Project.