MSc in Narrative Medicine in New York United States | Columbia University

The Columbia University Master of Science in Narrative Medicine equips healthcare providers, authors, and academics with narrative competence to enhance patient and provider experiences while rigorously examining healthcare topics across disciplines. As the pioneering graduate program in this field, it originated from early 2000s discussions among medical professionals and humanities scholars about how literary analysis could transform healthcare. Founding members included physician-literary scholar Rita Charon, physician-writer-activist Sayantani DasGupta, humanities scholar Maura Spiegel, philosopher Craig Irvine, novelist David Plante (later succeeded by Nellie Hermann), psychoanalyst Eric Marcus, and others. Their collaborative work emphasized key themes like interpersonal dynamics, equity, bodily experience, relationships, self-awareness, artistic expression, and intellectual humility, employing close textual analysis and creative composition as core methodologies. These collective efforts crystallized into the foundational framework for the current M.S. program.