What Pauline Doesn\u2019t Know: Using Guided Fiction Writing to Educate Health Professionals about Cultural Competence

Lise Saffran

doi:10.1007/s10912-016-9430-4

Abstract

Research linking reading literary fiction to empathy supports health humanities programs in which reflective writing accompanies close readings of texts, both to explore principles of storytelling (narrative arc and concrete language) and to promote an examination of biases in care. Little attention has been paid to the possible contribution of guided fiction-writing in health humanities curricula toward enhancing cultural competence among health professionals, both clinical and community-based. Through an analysis of the short story “Pie Dance” by Molly Giles, juxtaposed with descriptions of specific writing exercises, this paper explains how the demands of writing fiction promote cultural competency.

Highlights

Giles’s short story, BPie Dance,^ begins with the words, BI don’t know what to do about my husband’s new wife" (1994, 297)
The close reading of literary fiction has long been a central component in medical humanities programs (Jones 1997), in great part because of its ability to set students puzzling over the complicated motivations of protagonists
The mystery of human behavior is at the root of much in public health and medicine, after all

Summary

Introduction

Giles’s short story, BPie Dance,^ begins with the words, BI don’t know what to do about my husband’s new wife" (1994, 297). The reader may empathize with the characters’ feelings, she may even suspect that she knows some important things about them, but the most important thing, the reason for their actions in the story, remains a mystery until Pauline gets into her car and drives away.

Results

Conclusion