TalkRx: Building Community through Live Storytelling

Abstract: This performance presents four stories from TalkRx, a quarterly community storytelling event for providers and trainees in medical school, residency, and clinical practice. TalkRx is a live storytelling event that showcases diverse experiences of medical students, residents, and fellows while providing space for reflection, creativity, and catharsis. Producing this live show involves thoughtfully curating stories and coaching in the writing and delivery of a story. Aside from creating community, TalkRx strengthens providers’ presentation abilities and narrative competence, skills relevant to clinical training and practice. Narrative medicine is well established as a powerful tool in developing resilience amongst physicians and medical students as well as an effective therapeutic tool for healing amongst patient communities. TalkRx harnesses narrative frameworks to encourage trainees and providers to celebrate the individual experience within a pluralistic world and to recognize the power of storytelling in their own individual journeys. This session brings TalkRx to life with four speakers sharing their stories for the audience. The four presenters include trainees from different stages of medical development and their reflections on the experience of preparing for and performing in TalkRx. This event highlights the importance of not just a space for storytelling itself (e.g. open mics, talent shows, etc), but the importance of storytelling mentors (e.g. editors, speaking coaches). We hope our sample performance and Q&A session will provide an opportunity for creators of TalkRx to share their experiences and lessons after eight years of producing live storytelling shows.

Keywords: live storytelling, community, medical humanities