Effective medical practice requires narrative competence, that is, the ability to recognise, assimilate, interpret and respond to the stories and fates of others. Medicine practised with narrative competence, called narrative medicine, is proposed as a model for humane and effective medical practice. Adopting methods such as close reading of literature and reflective writing allows narrative medicine to explore the 4 main narrative situations of medicine: doctor and patient, doctor and self, doctor and colleagues, and doctors and society. With narrative competence, doctors can reach out and join patients who are ill, recognise their own medical journeys, acknowledge kinship and responsibilities to other health professionals, and inaugurate the ensuing discussion with the public about healthcare. By bridging the divide that separates doctors from patients, themselves, colleagues and society, narrative medicine offers new possibilities for respectful, empathetic and nourishing medical care.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Susan-Eggly/publication/11200106_Physician-
Construction_of_Illness_Narratives_in_the_Medical_Interview/links/558817a308ae1dfa
49d22cd7/Physician-Patient-Co-Construction-of-Illness-Narratives-in-the-Medical-