“Patients bring us stories,” Terrence Holt explains.
“We drop into the middle of patients’ stories and try to change the plot for the better. First we have to understand it, however. The first thing that happens when a patient comes in is they start telling a story, and you try to figure what it means.” He adds, “I think it is true that death is the mother of beauty…And an appreciation of human suffering and our limited tenure on this Earth is essential to seeing our lives and seeing the world we inhabit.”
Lynn Neary writes about “Story Specialists: Doctors Who Write” over at NPR.