The final draft of assignment 2

1. Medical
Storytelling: A skill
or a charming
talent?
Natalie Muniz

2. I will argue that medical storytellers need to refine their
skills to tell a good story. Others may argue that
storytelling is an art that requires no skill, but my
evidence will show otherwise. It is crucial that medical
storytellers trying to prove their point streamline their
stories so that there is no animosity between the
parties, make sure each one of their points is
accurately explained, and so that their audience can
leave the discussion with a lasting impression of the
story that they have heard.
Thesis

3. Creating a Safe Storytelling and Listening
Environment
Telling a story with the aim to change the medical system needs to
have the patients and the medical professionals to back it up, and
medical professionals are not going to back up a story where they feel
like the bad guy, where they feel they can not make any difference in
the matter. In a study that induced anger in participants, they found
that “anger did not seem to impair memory for events that actually did
occur… Instead, anger impaired the ability to dismiss errors that were
subsequently suggested “ (Greenstein, Franklin 207). Anger is
something that prohibits a person to start realizing their own faults and
becoming stubborn, which is what the storytellers do not want.

4. Getting Everything Out in the Open
The medical storytelling organization involved in interacting with the storytellers
“help(s) patients and families tailor their presentation by discussing ahead of
time who will be in the audience” (Morrise, Stevens e143). The audience wants
to feel immersed in what the storyteller is saying so that they can embody the
various points that are brought up. It is explained as “Individuals gain a better
understanding of one another through the use of concrete examples rather
than through vague abstractions and generalizations which have no
relationship to life’s experiences... enables individuals to build the bridge of
understanding between one another” (Abrahamson 441). Since health
complications can become quickly convoluted, reduction of the core points will
ensure an easy understanding of what can be improved upon.

5. Learn it Once and Retain it Forever
Telling a story is not intended to fill the void of thought for a menial amount of
time, it’s supposed to transcend that moment. Medical professionals are
supposed to approach a new situation with the story that they had heard in the
back of their heads, dictating what feels right based on how the storyteller
wanted them to act. Even in ancient times, there was an understanding of how
a good story affected the thinking of an individual. It is said that “Homer taught
us how to teach by singing to a person’s entire soul and that lying within the
confines of this technique is the first great lesson for teachers” (Abrahamson
442). The organization wants to teach normal people and families the art of
teaching and having the information you sowed in the minds of the listening
continues to flourish with new understandings. The point is that the five
minutes that the teller takes to share their experiences turns into a lifetime of

6. Do you think that
storytelling is the most
effective way to change a
system?
Works Cited
Abrahamson, Craig E. “Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool in Higher
Education.” EBSCOhost, 1 Mar. 1998,
https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=3d22071d-
02d6-4388-b2d0-3c3f15c1201b%40redis. Accessed Sept. 2022.
Greenstein, Michael, and Nancy Franklin. “Anger Increases Susceptibility to
Misinformation.” Experimental Psychology, vol. 67, no. 3, 2020, pp. 202–209.,
https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000489.
Morrise, Lisa, and Katy Jo Stevens. “Training Patient and Family Storytellers and
Patient and Family Faculty.” The Permanente Journal, vol. 17, no. 3, 2013,
https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/12-059.