I was honored to deliver the Enrico G. Bartolucci, M.D. Lecture to the UTSW Department of Surgery on October 8, 2025. Special thanks to Alan Dackiw, MD, PhD who invited me to be a visiting professor.
I talked about Arthur Frank's illness narratives, Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, and the basics of Narrative Medicine. After the lecture, we held a close reading writer's workshop based on Jamaica Kincaid's essay, "Girl."
UTSW's Department of Surgery has a large and wonderfully diverse population of residents. I was honored to spend time talking narrative concepts and how they might be integrated into surgical clerkships and residencies. Special thanks to their thought leaders including Department Chair Herbert Zeh, MD, Alan Dackiw, MD, PhD, Rohit Sharma, MD, Audra Clark, MD, Ankeeta Mehta, DO, Vivek Sant, MD, John Mansour, MD, Maria Capellan, MD, Roma Raj, MD, and otolaryngologists Andrew Day, MD and Zainab Farzal, MD.
I always learn more than I share. The visit was enlightening, and I was inspired by the students, residents, faculty, and staff I met in Dallas.
