Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine (2017-present)

Field Notes Editor.

Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine is a literary journal dedicated to promoting the theory and practice of Narrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary field that enhances healthcare through the effective communication and understanding between caregivers and patients. Our name Intima has a specific resonance in the field: Narrative Medicine defines itself as the intimate interface between two people, one as healer, one as being healed, who both yield and gain from the experience of the clinical encounter.

The word intima itself has an anatomical reality: It is the infinitesimally thin layer lining a blood vessel, where the vehicle and its cargo meet, speeding blood to the heart and brain, an apt analogy for narrative as we define it.

iatrogenesis: Essays on Becoming a Physician (2018)

Editor-in-Chief.

In iatrogenesis: Essays on Becoming a Physician, medical students share coming-of-age stories that illustrate the rigorous, rewarding, and sometimes unforgiving journey into medicine.

In Greek, iatro- means doctor, and -genesis means origin: Iatrogenesis thus describes any effect, good or bad, brought forth by a physician’s actions. This essay compendium looks beyond a physician’s impact on patients, instead turning inward to examine the impact of medical training on student doctors. These essays written by University of Michigan medical students span from the donning of the White Coat to graduation. Along the way, each writer weaves a story, the threads of which unite in a tapestry highlighting the universality of this coming-of-age journey. These essays breathe life into each stage of medical apprenticeship, displaying the full spectrum of human emotion as medical students find ways to reinvent themselves as the physicians of tomorrow.

AMA Journal of Ethics (2015-2016)

Theme Issue Editor.

Patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) promotes respect for patients and families, information sharing, shared decision making and care planning, and collaborative service delivery. It is one part of a movement towards participatory medicine that values patients’ and family members’ knowledge and experience, an outgrowth of the shift in recent decades toward prioritizing patient autonomy. When and how is striving to deliver inclusive care ethically complex? How should medicine accommodate families alongside patients, and what ethical challenges arise when trying to do so? With feedback and contributions from patients and family members, this theme issue of the AMA Journal of Ethics considers some of the ethical challenges of implementing PFCC.

Chronicling Childhood Cancer: A Collection of Personal Stories by Children and Teens with Cancer (2014)

Editor.

In this narrative collection, ten children and teens use their own words and colorful drawings to share their personal experiences with cancer. This diverse collection of patient stories provides insight into the unique lives of these individuals; some are recently diagnosed and undergoing treatment for cancer while others are in remission or have relapsed. These children and teens are honest and perceptive, their stories told with heartfelt emotion.

This book is a resource for all those interested in learning more about childhood cancer, including health practitioners, family, and friends. These stories also have the potential to help other youth diagnosed with cancer.

All of the proceeds received by the University of Michigan Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology for this book will be donated: 50% to the Block Out Cancer campaign for pediatric cancer research at the University of Michigan and 50% to the Child and Family Life Program at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.