University Senate                                                                     

Proposed: November 20, 2008
Adopted: by voice vote without dissent

RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH A PROGRAM
LEADING TO A MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE
IN NARRATIVE MEDICINE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
(SCHOOL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION)

WHEREAS      Effective practice of health care requires the ability to recognize, absorb, interpret and act on the stories and plights of others, and

WHEREAS      narrative medicine is an interdisciplinary field that challenges the divisions between and among professionals and patients and addresses our need as patients or caregivers to give voice to our experience, and

WHEREAS      Columbia University’s program in Narrative Medicine is highly successful and draws on an interdisciplinary faculty to direct, administer and teach in the proposed Master of Science degree curriculum, and

WHEREAS      Columbia University, through its School of Continuing Education, is uniquely positioned to bring together faculty from medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities to an active exchange of ideas and to attract students from varying disciplines to the emerging field of narrative medicine, and

WHEREAS      the proposed degree program neither duplicates nor replaces programs or courses already offered at the University or in the Northeast region of the United States, and

WHEREAS      there is a clear need for persons working in the medical professions, social sciences and humanitarian fields to better understand and convey the experience of health related matters,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED       that the Senate establish the Master of Science Degree in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED            that the Senate forward this resolution to the Trustees for appropriate action.

Proponent:
Committee on Education

MS Degree in Narrative Medicine
Program Proposal Overview

Description: an interdisciplinary field of study designed to improve the narrative competence of healthcare practitioners for the purpose of increasing the quality of patient care and establishing more effective clinical practice.

Course of Study: 38 – 40 point curriculum (4000-level courses)

• Core courses (20 points)
• Narrative understanding
• The ethics of care
• Tools of close reading and writing
• Focused courses (8 points) - Narratives in fields including:
• Genetics
• Social justice
• Palliative care
• Electives (8 points)
• Discipline of student’s choosing
• Field work (4 points)

Intended students: healthcare professionals and trainees in clinical disciplines such as medicine, nursing, social work, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychoanalysis, pastoral care, graduate literature studies, writing and health journalism, oral history, medical anthropology, and students in other social sciences who wish to privilege their own understandings of illness and disability in their own scholarly activities or become involved in the education of healthcare professionals.

Professional options for graduates:

• Medical or nursing - lead narrative medicine programs (as directors, division heads, department chairs, senior-level administrators) in medical schools and hospitals and evaluate the impact of these programs on clinical practice and quality of care.
• Combined degree with a medical or nursing degree - increase narrative competence in clinical practice
• Other fields - obtain jobs in healthcare by enriching scholarly work, becoming part of the theory/practice experience

Related programs in the Northeast:

• MA and PhD in Medical Humanities, Drew University
• Certificate program in Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• MA in Health Advocacy, Sarah Lawrence

Specifics:

• Director – Rita Charon: total of 4 FT CU faculty; 1 PT, 2 ADJ
• Hosting School – Continuing Education
• Initial enrollment – 12 students; 60 in first 5 years