Narrative Possibilities in Healthcare: One-Day Retreat with the NBM Lab

Saturday, May 3, 2025: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
500 University Avenue, Downtown Toronto

Register

Reinvigorate your practice with the transformative methods and tools of narrative-based medicine. Discover how to reconnect with purpose and passion at this special, in-person event.

Drawing upon the diverse expertise of NBM Lab facilitators and faculty members at the University of Toronto, this immersive retreat invites you to re-engage with your practice through a variety of activities rooted in narrative and the health humanities. Apply key narrative principles such as close reading and listening, reflective writing, and creative thinking in your daily work and interactions.

There will be plentiful opportunities for interactive participation, collaboration, and reflection throughout the day. This remains a hallmark of our offerings that participants appreciate: connecting with like-minded professionals and practicing narrative strategies by putting pen to paper.

Uncover how engaging with the arts can help us better understand the individualized experience of health and illness. Develop powerful strategies to better receive and empathetically respond to stories shared by our patients, colleagues, and each other.

Leave inspired to approach your practice and work from new perspectives, infuse your projects with new ideas, and build connections amongst the growing narrative-based medicine and health humanities community at the University of Toronto.

Learning Objectives

Upon conclusion of this offering, participants will develop an enhanced ability to:

  • Identify narrative tools for daily healthcare practice
  • Reflect on and represent healthcare experiences through writing
  • Describe health humanities strategies that explore the connection between storytelling, practice, and resiliency

Who Should Attend?

This event presents a fantastic opportunity for those who have always wanted to explore and experience the practice of narrative-based medicine over the course of one, dynamic day.

For those already working in the field this spring retreat offers a refresher on key narrative principles, as well as an update on new directions in the field.

We welcome participation from health care practitioners, writers, artists, health care advocates, health humanities scholars, and professionals interested in re-imagining what’s possible at the intersection of narrative and healthcare.

Agenda

Coffee and Networking
Welcome, Introductions, and Orientation to the Retreat
Karen Gold (Curriculum Lead, NBM Lab) and Damian Tarnopolsky (Creative Lead, NBM Lab)
Narrative-based Medicine: An Overview of Principles, Methodologies and Strategies for Clinical Care
Allan Peterkin (Program Director, NBM Lab)

This interactive session will review the history of narrative method applications in clinical practice. We will explore types of narrative (cinematic, visual, textual) and offer hands-on exercises for close reading and reflective writing. Tips for incorporating narrative-based principles within clinical care settings will be provided.

Break
Narrative Pedagogy and Narrative Craft
Karen Gold and Damian Tarnopolsky

A demonstration of close reading and reflective writing exercises to take us deeper into the work of NBM.

Lunch and Networking
Embodied Narratives: Movement, Creativity, and Resiliency
Sarah Kim (Medical Education Health Humanities Theme Lead)
An embodied exploration of individual and shared narratives of the body as a means to connect with our creativity and build resilience. Linking embodiment to mindful living, this breakout examines relationality from the micro to the macro, inviting diverse perspectives on the role of trust and compassion through crisis to transformation. The movement explorations require no previous experience and are designed to be accessible, adaptable, and gently reflective.

Break
Group Reflections and What’s Next
Karen Gold and Damian Tarnopolsky
Conclusion

Program Fee

Early Bird
Until March 30, 2025
$990
Regular $1,090

All amounts are in Canadian Dollars (CAD $) and are subject to 13% HST.

Cancellation

Cancellations will be accepted until April 26, 2025 and are subject to a processing fee of $60 plus applicable taxes. Refunds will not be processed after this date.

Requests for cancellation must be made in writing to cpd.programs@utoronto.ca .

Registrations are not transferable.

The University of Toronto reserves the right to cancel events. Registrants will be notified at the earliest possible date in the event of a cancellation. Registration fees for events cancelled by the University will be refunded; however, the University will not be liable for any loss, damages or other expenses that such cancellations may cause.

Location

This event will take place in person at the Rehabilitation Sciences Building (500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V7) on the University of Toronto St. George Campus.

Accreditation

Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, is fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME), a subcommittee of the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS). This standard allows CPD to review and assess educational activities based on the criteria established by The College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Royal College) has established agreements with each of the American Medical Association (AMA), and the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) where activities approved for Royal College MOC Credits are eligible for conversion to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ and UEMS-EACCME European CME Credit (ECMEC®) credits, respectively.