Studying online
There are now 2 possible online modes for units:
Units with modes Online timetabled and Online flexible are available for any student to self-enrol and study online.
Click on an offering mode for more details.
Unit Overview
- Description
As humans we cast our identity in a narrative form as a way of expressing ourselves and our world to one another in different forms, including both literature and art. Narrative Medicine (Charon, 2000) refers to clinical practice infused with narrative competence – the capacity to recognize, absorb, metabolize, interpret, and be moved by stories of illness. It allows the clinician to enter the narrative world of the patient– through the stories they tell, to dwell and comprehend what is at stake there. This can be achieved through drawing on established literature or writing about oneself and one's patients in order to access deeper meaning and understanding of clinical practice that is otherwise unobtainable. This unit introduces the concepts of narrative medicine including attentive listening, narrative writing, close reading skills, literary and philosophical analysis and reflective reasoning and how to translate this learning to education and clinical settings.
- Credit
- 6 points
- Offering
(see Timetable) Availability Location Mode Semester 1 UWA (Perth) Face to face - Details for undergraduate courses
- Level 3 core unit in the Humanities in Health and Medicine major sequence
- Outcomes
Students are able to (1) demonstrate how narrative medicine tools of close reading, attentive listening and narrative writing from clinical practice can encourage empathy and promote deeper understanding between clinician and patient.; (2) reflect on how narrative approaches can enrich understandings of illness, surface unexplored meanings in everyday clinical practice and foster personal and professional growth and development.; (3) demonstrate techniques used in narrative interviewing and explain how they can be used to see the fuller picture of patient's outer (culture, society) and their inner (motives, interests, emotions) lives.; (4) discuss narrative learning, pedagogy and how it can be used as a research methodology in health.; and (5) design a creative narrative medicine piece aligned with a health topic for education or practice.
- Assessment
Indicative assessments in this unit are as follows: (1) narrative assessment; (2) written assessment; and (3) creative written assessment. Further information is available in the unit outline.
Student may be offered supplementary assessment in this unit if they meet the eligibility criteria.
- Unit Coordinator(s)
- Professor Sandra Carr and Dr Kelby Smith-Han
- Unit rules
- Prerequisites
- Successful completion ofBMED2001 Humanities in Health and Medicine (ID 6754)
- Contact hours
- Seminars 1 hours per week for 12 weeks
Workshops 5 x 2 hours over semester
- The availability of units in Semester 1, 2, etc. was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change.
- All students are responsible for identifying when they need assistance to improve their academic learning, research, English language and numeracy skills; seeking out the services and resources available to help them; and applying what they learn. Students are encouraged to register for free online support through GETSmart; to help themselves to the extensive range of resources on UWA's STUDYSmarter website; and to participate in WRITESmart and (ma+hs)Smart drop-ins and workshops.
- Visit the Essential Textbooks website to see if any textbooks are required for this Unit. The website is updated regularly so content may change. Students are recommended to purchase Essential Textbooks, but a limited number of copies of all Essential Textbooks are held in the Library in print, and as an ebook where possible. Recommended readings for the unit can be accessed in Unit Readings directly through the Learning Management System (LMS).
- Contact hours provide an indication of the type and extent of in-class activities this unit may contain. The total amount of student work (including contact hours, assessment time, and self-study) will approximate 150 hours per 6 credit points.
Face to face
Predominantly face-to-face. On campus attendance required to complete this unit. May have accompanying resources online.
Online flexible
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit is asynchronous delivery, with NO requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online timetabled
100% Online Unit. NO campus face-to-face attendance is required to complete this unit. All study requirements are online only. Unit includes some synchronous components, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times.
Online Restricted
Not available for self-enrolment. Students access this mode by contacting their student office through AskUWA. 100% Online Unit.
NO campus face-to-face attendance. All study and assessment requirements are online only. Unit includes some timetabled activities, with a requirement for students to participate online at specific times. In exceptional cases (noted in the Handbook) students may be required to participate in face-to-face laboratory classes when a return to UWA’s Crawley campus becomes possible in order to be awarded a final grade.
External
No attendance or regular contact is required, and all study requirements are completed either via correspondence and/or online submission.
Off-campus
Regular attendance is not required, but student attends the institution face to face on an agreed schedule for purposes of supervision and/or instruction.
Multi-mode
Multiple modes of delivery. Unit includes a mix of online and on-campus study requirements. On campus attendance for some activities is required to complete this unit.