Show and tell: The power of personal narratives for advocacy
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Who I am: Catherine Hwang, general internist and health policy researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
What I created: I wrote a perspectives piece, titled “Protecting our Humanity and Harnessing Resilience“, published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. In the essay, I shared a personal story of the first time I pronounced a patient’s death and the lasting effects it had on me. In doing so, I sought to shed light on the under-addressed issue of secondary trauma that healthcare professionals face in our fast-moving medical system.
Why it matters: Nearly all clinicians experience secondary trauma during their careers; this leads to burnout, which jeopardizes our capacity to provide high-quality care and threatens patient outcomes. Advocating for enhanced structures of support for addressing secondary trauma in clinical settings is essential for physicians’ mental health and well-being, which ultimately impacts patient health too.
What I learned: I learned that personal narratives are a powerful medium for advocacy. In addition, the writing process reminded me that our training environment plays an important role in shaping our perspectives and experiences.
