Rice Students El Pollan, June Li, Junze Yuan, James Wu, and Angela Chen. Photo by Andrew Lin.
The Off Script event, an initiative of the Baylor College of Medicine Humanities Expression and Arts Lab (HEAL) with annual support from Rice’s Program in Medical Humanities, is a biannual performance in which community members share their written narratives of their experiences with health and care around a specific theme. The latest installment of Off Script: Stories from the Heart of Medicine was themed around Trust and Mistrust. The event, which took place at Rice’s Fondren Library on November 13, brought together voices from across the Texas Medical Center to explore the complex, often tenuous dynamics surrounding the idea of “trust” in the clinical environment.
As each speaker rose to the podium, they further peeled back the curtains that sever the emotions of the illness experience from treatment itself. Angela Chen, a freshman at Rice, who was competitively selected to participate alongside doctors, a graduate student, and a published poet, made a poignant observation: “When we look closer at emotions, communication, care, and responsibility in the medical system, we see a lot of medicine that we are unfamiliar with– more emotional, and more humane.” The program highlighted the human interactions that shape not just patient outcomes, but patient experiences. To do so, the presenters shared observations and encounters in the clinical setting, demonstrating that the ability to acknowledge and welcome the stories of others is essential to building the trust in relationships between providers and patients as well as their families required for effective healing.
The evening featured a diverse lineup of storytellers and academics who shared their personal narratives through spoken performance, including Alyssa Paparella (“Listening to the Body”), Dr. Michele Loor (“I Trust You”), Angela Chen (“Ward Five”), Dr. Woods Nash (“Disarm”), and Dr. M. Cynthia Cheung (“Common Disaster”). Additionally, the Off Script Players, along with MHRI executive director Dr. Melissa Bailar, were led by Dr. Woods Nash in a performance of “Critical.” Dr. Nash, Off Script co-chair, emphasized the importance of Off Script. “Off Script has been holding the mic for stories that aren't always welcome in medical education and practice. Doctors, undergrads, med students, and many others have taken the stage to report their joys and turmoil—and to find comfort in the audience's recognition”, says Dr. Nash. “In this way, Off Script makes space for people who might feel excluded by our medical system, which can be mechanistic and inhumane. At Off Script, they narrate moments of connection with others, their fears and loneliness, and how healing happens—because all of this is part of the heart of medicine.”
This event was made possible through the collaborative organization of Woods Nash (University of Houston), Andrew Childress (Baylor College of Medicine, Humanities Expression and Arts Lab), Chaya Murali (Baylor College of Medicine), and Joelle Robertson-Preidler (McGovern School of Medicine) with MHRI and the medical humanities program. MHRI would like to extend our gratitude to the event sponsors for their continued support of narrative medicine and commitment to fostering a more empathetic field of medicine, including the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, McGovern Medical School, and the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab (HEAL) at Baylor College of Medicine.
Off Script happens twice a year, and welcomes submissions from the Rice community. To be first to hear about Off Script and other medical humanities events, add your details to the Stay in Touch box on this site.