Moral injury describes the damage to our moral compass and sense of self when the situation leaves us to make decisions that run against our values or moral beliefs. We might not recognize ourselves as morally injured, but we feel it, and it rarely feels good.

Narrative provides a creative space for appreciating and making sense of these experiences and, perhaps, providing a voice to moments that aren’t always easy to understand.

Led by physician-writer Jay Baruch, this workshop invites us to slow down and reflect on moments that reside in ambiguity. Through guided writing prompts and authentic group discussion, you will discover how the practice of intentional, reflective writing can help us understand complex experiences. You will also develop creative methods for preventing, supporting, and communicating situations of moral injury on individual and community levels.

Powerful things can happen when we put pen to paper and begin moving ideas across the page.

This workshop is intended for healthcare providers, educators, and all those interested in the role of writing in addressing moral distress in healthcare. No prior writing experience is required. Writers at every level are welcome.

Learning Objectives

• Identify sources of moral injury in our professional practice
• Learn how narrative skills can provide different tools for understanding complex and messy experiences
• Develop creative methods for preventing, supporting, and communicating situations of moral injury on the individual and community levels

Instructor

Jay Baruch is a writer, emergency room doctor, educator, and Professor of Emergency Medicine at Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where he serves as the director of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Scholarly Concentration. His academic and creative work centers on the complexity and uncertainty in patient care and the importance of creativity, interdisciplinarity, and the arts as clinical skills. His latest book of nonfiction essays is Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey Through Constraints and Creativity in the Emergency Room (MIT Press 2022). He’s the author of two short fiction collections: What’s Left Out (Kent State University Press 2015) and Fourteen Stories: Doctors, Patients, and Other Strangers (Kent State University Press 2007).

He’s a former Director-at-Large, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and the former medical humanities section chair for the American College of Emergency Physicians. In addition, he’s a former faculty fellow at the Cogut Institute for the Humanities at Brown University, where he directed the Creative Medicine Series and served on the leadership team for the Rhode Island Arts and Health group on practice, policy, and research.

His projects range from work with the Rhode Island School of Design Museum educators on museum-based curriculum to get clinicians to think about how they think, creating authentic spaces for fostering difficult conversations with the RISD Center for Complexity, and a Brown University EdX online course, “Beyond Medical Histories: Gaining Insight from Patient Stories.”

He serves on the steering committee for the Health Humanities Consortium and the AMA Journal of Ethics editorial board and received the inaugural Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Gold Humanism Award and the Brown Emergency Medicine Innovations in Education Award.

Fee

Program Fee: $385

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

Cancellation

Cancellations will be accepted until Thursday, May 2, 2024 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.

Accreditation

College of Family Physicians of Canada – Mainpro+® (Group Learning):
This 1 credit(s)-per-hour Group Learning program meets the certification criteria of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and has been certified by Continuing Professional Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto for up to 3.0 Mainpro+® credits.

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada – Section 1
This event is an Accredited Group Learning Activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, approved by Continuing Professional Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. You may claim a maximum of 3.0 hours (credits are automatically calculated).

American Medical Association – AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ Designation
Through an agreement between the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American Medical Association, physicians may convert Royal College MOC credits to AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Information on the process to convert Royal College MOC credit to AMA credit can be found at: https://www.ama-assn.org/education/ama-pra-credit-system/agreement-royal-college-physicians-surgeons-canada

European Union for Medical Specialists (UEMS)
Live educational activities recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as Accredited Group Learning Activities (Section 1) are deemed by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) eligible for ECMEC®.