Engaging medical students in a social media platform that highlights patient narrative

Education context: Since it was first introduced in medical education literature in the late 1990s, Narrative Medicine (NM) has become increasingly researched as a form of pedagogy for medical learners of all levels. NM is an approach that employs the skills needed to recognize, absorb, interpret, and be moved by stories of illness (Charon 2007). It is concerned with making meaning of the experiential knowledge within patients stories and integrating this with medico-pathological knowledge and modern, data driven medical narratives. A wide variety of NM-related pedagogic interventions have been described in the literature. A common goal among these is proficiency in clinic-based patient-centered interviewing in order to create a rich patient narrative. Opportunities to practice mental schemas like FIFE (Feelings, Ideas, Function and Expectations) can be especially helpful for new learners (Weston et al.1989).

Objective: Participation provides an opportunity to hone skills relating to NM, such as active listening, self-reflection, the process of empathy building, comfort with synthesizing a patient-centered interview and narrative writing.

Description of Innovation: Our innovation is an Instagram account (@somebodystories) that documents the lived experiences of someone with a chronic illness, covering diseases of various organ systems. Each illness covered includes three posts of background information to help users better contextualize the interview and six posts of interview-based summaries. The participant conducts a semi-structured interview with a volunteer who has that given illness. Participants are involved in 1) Identifying a patient, 2) Interviewing, 3) Gathering background information, 4) Summarizing background information and interview content into posts using layman’s terms. To maintain consistency, we utilize the same background research template and interview guide. Volunteers are informed verbally and through writing that any identifying information is omitted from the posts and that interview-based content is posted only after their approval.

Evaluation of Innovation: We will utilize a pre and post survey. Both include components of the Kirkpatrick model, which is widely used to evaluate the utility of an educational intervention. All participants complete a pre survey. Participants who lead at least one interview or help to craft a narrative from the raw interview are given a post survey, to be completed within 1 week of their work. The volunteer interviewees are also sent an optional feedback form.

Discussion/Key Message This innovation is a novel approach to Narrative Medicine that utilizes patient-centered interviewing and social media. It also aims to amplify local stories from Hawai’i.

Target Audience The participant who is involved in creating an interview-based Instagram post.