Has the experience of illness changed over time and across borders? We will explore this question through narratives from the perspective of patients and physicians. This inquiry is particularly relevant at this moment when shifting medical paradigms are at the heart of debates that have global impact and deep personal consequences. Materials will include essays, fiction, poetry, memoir, blogs, film and television, spanning from antiquity to the present day. In addition, there will be guest lecture by authors, journalists and scholars in the field. Each student will be assigned a mentor from the greater Boston medical community with whom they will discuss the role of storytelling in that physician’s career.
