Stories have been used since the beginning of human history to share knowledge and build communities. Stories illuminate the joys, sorrows, aspirations, and challenges people and communities face, and provide the opportunities for those doing the sharing and the telling to generate meaning and connection.
Stories in medicine are no different. When healthcare community members, patients, and families share their stories of joy and sorrow with one another, we are able to work together better toward a future in healthcare that promotes healthcare justice, compassionate healthcare experiences, and community thriving.
Oral storytelling provides a setting in which the storyteller can use their speech cadence, voice quality and volume, and body language, and more to move a story forward. It allows for ad lib turns in the story that can create surprise and excitement or cultivate new understanding of a story.
Several storytelling opportunities exist at UW SMPH, and we hope you’ll explore them here.

Dr Jessica Babal: What the medical humanities is to me, and why it is important:
The medical humanities is a learning approach used to explore health and illness through multiple lenses outside of the biological. Exploring how medicine intersects with human experiences through story, visual art, music, history, and more, is essential for providing quality healthcare. The medical humanities connects us with our humanity, invites us to broaden perspectives, and charges us to provide compassionate, holistic, and equitable healthcare. For me personally, it’s also a fun and engaging way to more fully understand medicine, myself, and the patients I meet.


Listen In! is a storytelling collaborative, created by members of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health to generate storytelling programming and research.
The mission of Listen In! is to foster a sense shared humanity through storytelling that:
- Nurtures connection & compassion
- Encourages reflection & introspection
- Creates space for new perspectives
- Inspires meaning-making and growth
- Improves healthcare & healthcare delivery
Our goal is to tell stories that illuminate the challenges and growth experiences that healthcare team members, patients, and families face. Our collaborative is inter-disciplinary and offers regular events through the Department of Pediatrics and beyond with themes including “Second Chances,” “Roses, Buds, & Thorns,” and “Care & Comfort.”
Contact: Dr. Jessica Babal for more info.
Connecting our Storytelling Narrative Across Campus and Beyond
Podcast: What Brings You in Today?
On What Brings You in Today, UW-Madison Gradaute Students share stories and reflections about studying and working in medicine. WBYIT is a Narrative Medicine podcast produced by medical students at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Every Veteran has a story. Our mission is to help them tell it.
The medical humanities is a learning approach used to explore health and illness through multiple lenses outside of the biological. Exploring how medicine intersects with human experiences through story, visual art, music, history, and more, is essential for providing quality healthcare. The medical humanities connects us with our humanity, invites us to broaden perspectives, and charges us to provide compassionate, holistic, and equitable healthcare. For me personally, it’s also a fun and engaging way to more fully understand medicine, myself, and the patients I meet.

Gold Humanism Honor Society
"The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) was inspired by medical educators and residency program directors who expressed a need for identifying applicants to residency training programs who had outstanding clinical and interpersonal skills. Thanks to generous support from donors such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Berrie Foundation, GHHS was launched and has grown significantly since its inception in 2002. GHHS now plays a vital role in medical school and residency training program cultures throughout the US, recognizing students, residents, and faculty who exemplify compassionate patient care and serve as role models, mentors, and leaders in medicine.
With over 50,000 members in training and practice, GHHS is a thriving community that reinforces and supports the human connection in healthcare, essential for the well-being of both patients and clinicians. GHHS members lead initiatives that foster humanism and are expected to be humanistic leaders throughout their careers. A study by JAMA Network Open has shown that GHHS is equitable in representation across diverse student populations, making it a unique and inclusive medical honor society. GHHS hosts many initiatives and events, such as Solidarity Week for Compassionate Care, Thank a Resident Day, Big Sib Little Sib mentorship program, and Night of Story Telling all aimed at advocating for humanism in healthcare."
Teachers, Toddlers, and Tissues : Candid Conversations on Health and Child Care
The Teachers, Toddlers, and Tissues podcast aims to address commonly asked questions about health concerns in child care settings, covering topics including viral illness, mental and behavioral health, feeding, children with special needs, cultural diversity and inclusion, referrals to community resources, and so much more. I
n each podcast episode, well-known early child care specialist Rachel Giannini and pediatrician Dr. Dipesh Navsaria discuss how early child care educators can improve the health and well-being of the children and families in their daily care, avoid unnecessary health-related exclusions from that care, and become better informed and prepared early childhood care & education providers.
