Once Upon a Time. . . At The Tenth SOBRAMFA International and Academic Meeting - S. Paulo - Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, medical practice and the predominant medical education model are based on specialization. Methodologies such as patient-centered medicine and narrative medicine are either unknown or not applied in a systematic way. In order to draw students' and doctors' attention to these approaches during the TENTH SOBRAMFA INTERNATIONAL AND ACADEMIC MEETING, an informal event called "Narrative Session" was presented. The meeting's attendees were asked to send patients' stories in advance. The stories submitted were selected and classified according to medical sociologist Arthur Frank's description of three structures or skeletons of narrative--restitution stories, chaos stories, and quest stories. A special ambiance--a setting evoking The Tales of 1001 Nights--was created for the presentation. The narratives performed showed the narratives' healing and didactic potential for patients, doctors, and students.