Storytelling in Medicine
Course Description
Stories are at the core of medical practice, but the skills developed are applicable across disciplines, including technology and business. Storytelling in Medicine is a Sophomore IntroSem designed to teach skills in multiple modalities of storytelling including narrative, journalism, oral, social media, academic presentations and visual arts for different audiences. This seminar combines small groups, interactive workshops, and guest speakers who are experts in their fields of medicine, including Abraham Verghese, MD, author of The Covenant of Water, and Audrey Shafer, MD, poet and former director of Stanford’s Medicine and the Muse program. Students will also create their own storytelling project throughout the seminar, developed and edited with peer and teacher support and presented at the end of the course.
Meet the Instructors: Natasha Steele & Ilana Yurkiewicz
Natasha Steele
"My name is Natasha Steele, and I’m a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University, where I care for neurosurgical patients, lead research and quality improvement initiatives to enhance the patient experience, and work to reimagine how healthcare is delivered. Before becoming a physician, I studied public health and worked in health policy—drawn to the broader questions of how we care for people and build more equitable systems. That trajectory took an unexpected turn when I was diagnosed with cancer. Navigating the healthcare system as a patient, rather than a provider, fundamentally reshaped how I practice medicine—and how I tell stories.
"Today, my work lives at the intersection of clinical care, health equity, and communication. I focus on improving the experience of patients during and after a cancer diagnosis, addressing bias and stigma in clinical language, and using narrative as a tool to teach and to drive systems change. I'm especially interested in how stories—personal, clinical, and collective—can help future physicians and changemakers transform lived experience into purposeful action.
"This course is grounded in the belief that storytelling is not just a means of reflection, but a powerful force for empathy, advocacy, and transformation. Whether you’re pre-med, exploring a career in health, or simply curious about how writing can illuminate the human side of care, I look forward to learning and writing alongside you."
Ilana Yurkiewicz
"I’m a physician and medical journalist on the faculty at Stanford, where I specialize in cancer survivorship and primary care. I serve as Stanford’s Physician-Journalist in Residence, a role that bridges clinical practice with storytelling to expose the complexities of medicine and the systems that shape them. My work has appeared in The Atlantic, Scientific American, TIME, and The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and I’m the author of the book, Fragmented: A Doctor’s Quest to Piece Together American Health Care (W.W. Norton, 2023). I believe that well-crafted, strategically published stories can shape culture, humanize a profession, and create change. I’m thrilled to teach this course with my friend Natasha and help you develop your own voices. Whether you're interested in health care or any adjacent field where stories matter, I hope this seminar will deepen how you think about the art and science of medical storytelling."
Of related interest
LIFE 53Q