Being a patient makes you the lead character in your health journey. If you have a rare or serious condition, your story might have started decades ago or maybe you’re coping with a brand-new diagnosis.
Either way, you have something to say about your lived experience. That’s why we asked Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Michael Vitez to record this short video that walks you through a seven-minute writing exercise. It’s a no-pressure way to see what happens when you put pen to paper or your fingers to the keyboard.
As a journalist, Vitez spent a lot of time at the bedside, writing about people who were seriously ill. He then went on to create the Narrative Medicine program at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia. Today, he helps doctors in training appreciate the human side of medicine and celebrate stories as an essential element in the doctor-patient relationship.
Watch the video above for some encouragement, learn how to warm up your powers of observation and then try the seven-minute writing exercise.
Would you like to share an excerpt of what you’ve written? If so, you can do so anonymously.
Share a paragraph of your writing here.
Use these resources to find out more about telling your own story:
The Narrative Medicine Program at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University
Video: Telling Your Health Story – a free recorded event from the Philadelphia Inquirer
