Doctor patient relationship and narrative medicine in Anita Moorjani’s Dying to be me- narrating the experience of illness

Narrative medicine is an interdisciplinary field that brings powerful narrative skills of radical listening and creativity from the humanities and the arts to address the needs of all who seek and deliver healthcare. It enables patients and caregivers to voice their experience, to be heard, to be recognized, and to be valued, improving the delivery of healthcare. The doctor has to listen to the patient’s story in order to heal him of his ailment. Biomedical intervention can cure a disease but healing requires a more holistic approach and there comes narrative medicine which allows the patient to be an active participant in his healing by narrating his story of illness to the doctor. Anita Moorjani’s Dying to be me is the writer’s memoir on her battle against cancer and her near-death experience.
in the paper analyse the novel from the lens of the doctor-patient relationship and narrative medicine and the importance of telling one’s own story, through the diseased body. write about her experience in the doctor’s chamber – (for example- pg.44 in the novel). the paper should clearly look at the novel through the lens of narrative medicine and the conclusion should say how important it is for the physicians to listen to the patient’s story and then talk about treatment.
Narrative medicine gives voice to the patient. and when someone is suffering from cancer it becomes all the more important to listen to the patient’s story and make them active participant in their process of healing.