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John F. Steiner, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2005;294:2901-2904.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Physicians are immersed in stories. They hear stories from patients, tell them to other physicians, and recall them in quiet moments.¹ Literary scholars, folklorists, and historians have long emphasized the importance of stories.^2-3 In recent years, physicians trained in these disciplines have considered the role of stories in clinical practice. The physician-anthropologist Kleinman suggests that physicians need to move beyond "clinical interrogation" to listen attentively to their patients’ narratives of illness.^4(p9),5 Charon draws on her background in literary studies to suggest that the practice of medicine requires "narrative competence," which she defines as "the set of skills required to recognize, absorb, interpret, and be moved by the stories one hears or reads."^6(p862) She further proposes that physicians can enhance their clinical and emotional development through retelling clinical stories.

In the humanities and social sciences, a narrative has been defined as "someone telling someone else that . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Using Stories in Research

Author Affiliations: Colorado Health Outcomes Program and Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora.