Narrative Medicine for Interprofessional Education

Sneha Matri, MD , Associate Professor of Neurology, Duke Movement Disorders Center of Excellence Director of Medical Humanities, Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine
Healthcare worker burnout and moral injury is at an all-time high, driven by disengagement between professional values and corporate culture. Concerningly, indicators of moral injury begin to appear as early as the first year of professional education (medical school, nursing school, etc), emphasizing the need for early intervention to stem this rising epidemic and restore trust across the health professions. This talk will review the successful implementation of interprofessional humanities and ethics programming at Duke University Schools of Medicine and Nursing, including both horizontal and vertical integration across the professions. We will finish with an open discussion of plans for future expansion.

Sneha Mantri, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Director of Medical Humanities at Duke University, where she leads interprofessional programming in narrative medicine, arts, and well-being across the health system. She completed her education and clinical training at the University of Virginia, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania, before joining the faculty at Duke in 2018. Her academic interests include the imaginative and moral formation of health professional learners as they prepare to care for a diverse patient population. In 2024, she was named a Macy Faculty Scholar; her project will transform a longitudinal humanities track for Duke medical students to incorporate learners in advance practice nursing, physical and occupational therapy, and the physician assistant program, with an explicit focus on social justice and community-engaged practice.