1. What is one powerful aspect of Narrative Medicine that you will take away from this course? How do you see yourself using this information in the future?

There has always been a lingering feeling for me that healthcare professionals were not doing the best that they could do. For many, this is still a mystery. However, through this class I understood why doctors typically treat signs and symptoms. They do not let their patients talk enough. Through letting patients talk, you can learn so much about them and their situation that brought them into your office. I will certainly use this in my future as a physician as I want to be the most effective health care professional for my patients. I will strive to find the center of the illness rather than the outer layers of signs and symptoms.

2. What did you learn about healing in general?

Healing in general is a multi-layer approach. There are always the signs and symptoms which are the outermost visible and talked about. Then, when you dig a bit deeper, when talking to the patient, you can determine the reason why they are having these signs or symptoms. Then when you can finally peel that final layer away, the underlying illness or disease is clear. However, you can only peel off these layers with two way communication between physician and patient.

3. What did you learn about yourself (in general or as a future healthcare practitioner)?

I believe I learned that I need to work more on my communication skills. When I began at UNE I was a die hard introvert. Now, I am transitioning into a role of a leader and extrovert. I have learned throughout this class that these are important skills that I need to continue to develop to be able to properly communicate and lead a patient through their illness and into health. I will always carry these skills and ideals with me as I continue down my path as a future physician.

4. How did you grow as a writer, a reader, and/or a critical thinker?

I have honestly grown a lot throughout this course. I have never been someone who thought they could write, little alone write creatively. This is all due to the fact that I have never really had a creative writing class throughout my time in high school or at UNE. I always thought that english was the worse possible class that I would have to take! However, now I understand that English is not something to be dreaded as it does not always included academic essays and point, quote, explanation, 5 paragraph formatting.

5. Explain why you chose the sample essay you included in your ePortfolio. What does it demonstrate about your learning and growth this semester?

I chose this piece to include into my ePortfolio because I thought it was my first piece that I have ever written that I felt proud to share with others. I believe many of the ideas that I present resonate with the things we learned in class. This includes that emotionally wellbeing plays a lot into a person’s symptoms and diagnosis. It also includes the patient doctor communication, or lack thereof. I feel my story could be universally felt and it needed to be shared.