On September 18, 2025, the Student Advisory Committee held their first writing workshop on narrative medicine with a special guest, Dr. Shanda McManus. Dr. McManus is a family medicine physician who writes about the intersection of life, race, and medicine. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, where she champions Narrative Medicine.

During the writing workshop, students read and reflected on “GIRL” by Jamaica Kincaid, sharing their personal stories for pursuing medicine and how they have a responsibility to communicate with compassion to patients. The writing workshop focused on how medical students and physicians can use stories in medicine and how stories can shape their identity as healthcare providers. Students engaged in thoughtful conversations of how patients may go through overwhelming moments when met with difficult health challenges and rigorous care routines, and they spoke about how they can show sensitivity and sympathy while promising quality care. Towards the end, students wrote their own piece after reflecting on the emotions “GIRL” evoked and spoke about their experience being patients themselves or studying as medical students.

The workshop offered students a unique opportunity to explore how narrative can not only enrich their practice of medicine but also ground them in empathy and human connection.