In this episode of Mindworks in Conversation, we sit down with physician and educator Eve Makoff, MD, MS to explore Narrative Medicine as a structured, pedagogical practice. Moving beyond the cliché of the “power of stories,” Dr. Makoff examines how intentional methods in the health humanities can transform clinical practice and help re-humanize modern healthcare.
Dr. Makoff is the co-editor of Narrative Medicine: A Guidebook to Transforming Hearts and Minds. She shares insights from 27 women physicians on using narrative as a tool for ethical reflection, professional development, and radical inclusivity in patient care.
Topics covered in this conversation:
- Moving Beyond Clichés: Why narrative medicine is a rigorous clinical discipline, not just casual art discussion.
- Accessibility & Inclusion: Engaging participants who may not be comfortable with traditional writing through modalities like collage and visual art.
- The Facilitator’s Role: The ethics of holding space and how identity and lived experience shape narrative workshops.
- Institutional Legitimacy: The tension between medicalizing human experience and using the term “Medicine” to grant institutional power to the humanities.
- Gender and Authority: Reflections on women physicians’ perspectives in a traditionally technocratic field.
- Resisting Dehumanization: Can Narrative Medicine serve as an antidote to the corporatization of healthcare?
Who should watch this?
- Medical Educators: Seeking structured, Columbia-informed narrative medicine models.
- Physicians and Nurses: Looking to prevent burnout and reconnect with the human dimensions of care.
- Health Humanities Scholars: Interested in the intersection of bioethics and storytelling.
- Patients and Advocates: Curious about how meaning-making shapes healing experiences.
About Our Guest:
Eve Makoff, MD, MS, is a physician and narrative medicine educator whose work centers on palliative care and end-of-life narratives, supporting clinicians and patients in finding meaning amid serious illness.
Links & Resources:
📖 Book: Narrative Medicine: A Guidebook to Transforming Hearts and Minds
🌐 Narrative Mindworks: https://narrativemindworks.org/
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