Rita Charon (born 1949 in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

), is a physician, literary scholar and the founder and executive director of the Program in

Narrative Medicine Narrative Medicine is the discipline of applying the skills used in analyzing literature to interviewing patients. The premise of narrative medicine is that how a patient speaks about his or her illness or complaint is analogous to how literature ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

.The Program in Narrative Medicine

College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University , 19 September 2012 She currently practices as a general internist at the Associates in Internal Medicine at

Columbia Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

, and is a professor of clinical medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Charon is the author of ''Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness'' and co-editor of ''Stories Matter: The Role of Narrative in Medical Ethics'' and ''Psychoanalysis and Narrative Medicine''.

Biography

Charon was born in

and credits her father, a physician serving the French-Canadian population there, as her inspiration to go into medicine. She graduated with a B.A. in biology and child education from the Experimental College of

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

in 1970, and after working as a teacher and peace activist, attended

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

from 1974 to 1978, where she obtained her MD degree. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Residency Program in Social Medicine at the Montefiore Medical Center in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York. Charon began teaching at

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded ...

in 1982 and was appointed full professor in 2001. She also completed a doctorate in English from Columbia University in 1999, focusing her studies on the writing of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

and the role of literature in medicine. In 2000, she founded the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia, which launched the Master of Science in Narrative Medicine, the first graduate program of its kind, in 2009. She currently directs the Narrative Medicine curriculum for

Columbia Medical School Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

and teaches literature, narrative ethics, and life-telling, both in the medical center and to students in the Narrative Medicine master's degree program. She has published and lectured extensively, both nationally and internationally, on the ways in which narrative training helps to increase empathy and reflection in health professionals and students. Her literary scholarship focuses on the novels and tales of Henry James. Her research projects center on the outcomes of training health care professionals in narrative competence and the development of narrative clinical routines to increase the capacity for clinical recognition in medical practice. Charon’s research is supported by the

NIH The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

, the

NEH The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the

Veterans Administration The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, and several other private foundations.

Awards

Her work in narrative medicine has been recognized by the

Association of American Medical Colleges The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an i ...

, the

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a national organization of internists, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults.Sokanu "What is an Internist?" Retrieved October 20, 2014 With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest ...

, the Society for Health and Human Values, the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare, and the

Society of General Internal Medicine The Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) is an American professional society composed of physicians engaged in internal medicine research and teaching. It was originally named "The Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Interna ...

. She is the recipient of a Kaiser Faculty Scholar Award, a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

Bellagio Residence, and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1987 she was the first physician to receive Columbia University's

Virginia Kneeland Frantz Virginia Kneeland Frantz (November 13, 1896 – August 23, 1967) was a pathologist and educator credited with a series of discoveries in the study of thyroid, breast and pancreatic tumors. Early life and education She was born in New York City, ...

Award for Outstanding Woman Doctor of the Year. She was named Outstanding Woman Physician of the year in 1996, and in 1997 she received the National Award for Innovation in Medical Education from the Society of General Internal Medicine. In 2011 she was awarded the

Alma Dea Morani Alma Dea Morani (1907–2001) was a plastic surgeon. She is widely accepted as being the first female plastic surgeon in the United States and was the first female member accepted into the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. ...

, M.D. Renaissance Woman Award from the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine. Charon was selected as the 2018 Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities by the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, and delivered her lecture, "To See the Suffering: The Humanities Have What Medicine Needs," at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. on October 15, 2018.

Publications

*Author of ''Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006) *Co-editor of ''Stories Matter: The Role of Narrative in Medical Ethics'' (Routledge, 2002) *Co-editor of ''Psychoanalysis and Narrative Medicine'' (SUNY, 2008) *Co-author of ''The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine'' (Oxford University Press, 2016). *Charon was formerly editor-in-chief of the journal ''Literature and Medicine'' *Charon's essays and reviews have appeared in ''Narrative'', ''Annals of Internal Medicine'', ''Journal of the American Medical Association'',''JAMA'' ''Literature and Medicine'', ''The Lancet'', and ''The New England Journal of Medicine''.Rita Charon

''The New England Journal of Medicine'', 26 February 2004

References

External links

video: Honoring the stories of illness , Dr. Rita Charon , TEDxAtlanta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charon, Rita 1949 births Physicians from New York (state) Columbia University faculty Columbia Medical School faculty Living people Harvard Medical School alumni Fordham University alumni

Biography

Awards

Publications

See also

References

External links