NBM Talks: Podcast from the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab

Conor Mc Donnell has launched several creative and academic projects since we last spoke on the podcast. Conor is the Editor-in-Chief of Case Repertory, an initiative that seeks to reimagine the genre of the traditional case report and amplify the creative work of our NBM Lab community members. You can read these pieces on our website: Winter 2026 Issue: https://narrativebasedmedicine.ca/updates/letter-from-the-editor-winter-2026/ Spring 2026 Issue: https://narrativebasedmedicine.ca/updates/letter-from-the-editor-spring-2026/ Stay tuned for our third issue that will be released at the end of summer. To celebrate, we're revisiting the episode when Conor reflected on his introduction to narrative-based medicine and the value that writing has brought to his personal and professional life. *** 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.

Allan Peterkin (Program Director at the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab) recently received National Award for Excellence in the Health Humanities awarded by the Canadian Association of Health Humanities. To celebrate this extraordinary achievement, we're revisiting this conversation where 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. *** 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 Kim encourages us to imagine what's possible with a prompt of imagination and magical powers. Find a quiet spot and pick up a pencil for this guided writing exercise that will help you pay closer attention to the mind-body connection and find greater clarity in your thoughts. *** 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 invites us to draw inspiration from an ordinary moment in this guided writing exercise. Begin with a recent moment or memory, pick up where the events left off, and let your imagination ponder where the story might go next. *** 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.

Summer is here and we're kicking off the season by revisiting a few of our earlier episodes. Today, we're rerunning this conversation with Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Medical Education Health Humanities Theme Lead). Sarah 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. Interested in hearing more? Sarah has interviewed colleagues and other Temerty Medicine Theme Leads at the University of Toronto about their wide-ranging work. Browse our podcast catalogue to listen to these great conversations. *** 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.

We're celebrating 50 episodes of NBM Talks! To mark the occasion, this special episode was recorded live at the NBM Lab when members of our community gathered in Toronto for a celebration of how far we've come and the collaborative spirit that keeps us going. A roundtable discussion featuring lab leaders (Damian Tarnopolsky, Karen Gold, Sarah Kim, and Allan Peterkin) in conversation with the audience, this anniversary episode offers reflections on our journey and thoughts on the future of narrative-based medicine as its reach continues to expand. *** 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.

Damian Tarnopolsky (Creative Lead, Narrative-Based Medicine Lab) introduces the conversations, inspiration, and content you can expect to find on NBM Talks.

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). *** 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. *** 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. *** 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. *** 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. *** 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.

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). *** 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) . *** 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.

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. *** 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. *** 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.