Columbia Narrative Medicine

08/27/2026

"It doesn't matter if the person you're talking to is very similar to you or very different. It's part of your job to leave yourself for a moment and see where the other person is. There’s joy in that.” - Dr. Rita Charon, Founder & Executive Director, Columbia University Division of Narrative Medicine

In 2001, Rita received a residency to spend a month at Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center to develop her first book on narrative medicine. Twenty-five years later, the field is embraced and being expanded by clinicians and scholars in every corner of the world. In the latest , she discusses how the field of narrative medicine has grown and how it helps providers improve the way they treat their patients.

🩺 Read the full interview after the jump.

Narrative medicine uses literary tools to help physicians understand patients. Dr. Rita Charon discusses how it grew to be taught in med schools worldwide.

08/21/2026

Narrative Medicine Co-Founder and Faculty member Sayantani DasGupta is back in the news! Read her interview, published by Columbia University earlier this month, on how her scholarly work informed her latest book, Theft of the Ruby Lotus. We love to see it. 👏👏👏

Read the full interview below.

For Sayantani DasGupta, storytelling is a powerful tool for pursuing social justice.

08/19/2026

Join us on Wednesday, September 9 at 6pm EDT for Narrative Medicine Rounds. For our opening Rounds of the 2026-2027 season, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, social psychiatrist and the Helen and Robert Fullilove Professor of Community Health at the University of Orange.

Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, DLAPA, Hon AIA has conducted research on AIDS and other epidemics of poor communities, with a special interest in the relationship between the collapse of communities and decline in health. She is the author of over 100 scientific papers and nine books. Among her books are Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do About It, Urban Alchemy: Restoring Joy in America’s Sorted-Out Cities and Main Street: How a City’s Heart Connects Us All. Her new book, The Tao of K-Drama: Wise Narratives for a Troubled World will be released September 14, 2026, from Oxford University Press as the first book in OUP’s new Narrative Medicine Series.

In The Tao of K-Drama: Wise Narratives for a Troubled World, Dr. Fullilove analyzes K-dramas—South Korean television series—from a social psychiatry perspective, making a compelling case for popular storytelling as a form of narrative medicine: a way of countering isolation, metabolizing trauma, and restoring social imagination. Inviting readers to watch differently—and to feel differently—The Tao of K-Drama reveals how stories can become shared tools for survival, connection, and healing in an increasingly fragmented world.

The evening will be moderated by CUIMC Division of Narrative Medicine Founders and Co-Directors Dr. Craig Irvine and Dr. Maura Spiegel.

Register: https://www.mhe.cuimc.columbia.edu/narrative-medicine/public-programming-and-events/narrative-medicine-rounds/september-narrative-medicine-rounds-dr-mindy-fullilove

08/10/2026

Calling all Columbia Narrative Medicine alumni! 🎉

The countdown is on! Join us this Saturday, Aug 15 for the 6th annual Narrative Medicine ExCHANGE: Knowing, Showing, Proving, a virtual gathering for the over 700 (!) graduates of our MS and CPA programs.

This year's lineup features test labs, showcases, and a panel discussion led by Narrative Medicine alumni and practitioners across institutions and disciplines — swipe through to see what's on the agenda 👉

📍 Virtual
🗓 Saturday, August 15, 2026
⏰ 10 AM–5 PM EDT

🩺 Register here: bit.ly/NMExchange

07/14/2026

For Renée Russas, stories are more than just entertainment.

As the Administrative Manager for the Columbia University School of Professional Studies Narrative Medicine program, Renée helps support a community dedicated to understanding how stories shape health, illness, and human experience. Outside of Columbia, she channels those same ideas as a stage director, using theater to create space for reflection, empathy, and social justice.

In a new profile, Renée reflects on the experiences that led her to see theater not only as performance, but as "advocacy in action."

Read Renée's story: https://sps.columbia.edu/news/how-theatre-became-renee-russass-practice-advocacy

We're so proud to have her on our team!

06/24/2026

After four years, we are thrilled to announce our first Narrative Medicine workshop in New York City since 2022.

Join us this October for a weekend of close reading, reflective writing, conversation, and community as we explore the foundational principles and practices of narrative medicine together.

⏰ October 23–25, 2026
📍 Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City

Details and Registration: https://bit.ly/Fall26Workshop

06/09/2026

Heading to the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions Conference in New Orleans?

Stop by Booth #205 to meet Mary Sormanti, Director of Columbia Narrative Medicine, and Jenna Lefkowitz, Assistant Director of Recruitment & Admissions.

We'll be sharing information about how narrative medicine can strengthen healthcare education and practice. See you in New Orleans!

05/26/2026

Narrative Medicine alum Sal Marx uses visual storytelling to give chronic illness patients their voices back.

Through comics, painting, and mixed media, their work asks what we can say through art that words alone can't express.

From palliative care wards in Vienna to building an archive with the Sick Futures Collective, Marx treats creative work as a form of care.

🎨 Read the full story: https://sps.columbia.edu/news/artists-prescription-how-sal-marx-using-visual-storytelling-give-patients-their-voices-back

05/20/2026

A big congratulations to Narrative Medicine co-founder and Columbia University School of Professional Studies faculty member Sayantani DasGupta for hitting the New York Times Bestseller list with her middle-grade mystery novel Theft of the Ruby Lotus!

Described as “part love letter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York City immigrant families, part twisting and turning heist,” the novel explores questions of art, repatriation, and what we choose to value and preserve.

In a recent article for Publishers Weekly, Sayantani reflected on the novel’s personal and political inspirations, as well as the complicated refuge museums can offer.

📚 Read more about Sayantani's new book in Publishers Weekly: https://bit.ly/4dUjgLo

05/18/2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! This year, 17 students walk the stage to celebrate earning their Columbia University School of Professional Studies Master of Science in Narrative Medicine. 🎓🩺

This marks the 15th graduating cohort of Narrative Medicine practicioners. Nearly 700 clinicians, artists, nonprofit leaders, and trailblazers committed to bringing humanity back to healthcare. We couldn’t be prouder of every single one of you.

A special shoutout to Narrative Medicine student marshal, Eva Weis Bykov — an honor well earned.

We can’t wait to see all that you do.