Poetry Workshop at the AAMC

Dr. Sarah de Leeuw recently attended and co-facilitated a poetry workshop for the American Assocation of Medical Colleges. See abstract below.

Poetry to Heal: Understanding and Using Contemporary Poetics in Medicine

Poetry to Heal provides, first, a brief overview of poetry’s relationship with medicine and healthcare professionals and, second, a hands-on workshop where participants will write and share poetry. The session is designed to expand participants’ understandings about poetry as a practice and poetry in relation to medical practice. Participants will be led through a number of writing exercises designed to de-mystify poetry, to provide concrete writing skills and strategies, and to encourage poetry as a method of self-reflection and professional development. Participants will document their poetic work in a small hand-made book they will assemble as part of the workshop and can expect to leave with resources about writing poetry, publishing poetry, and how poetry and poetic work interfaces with trajectories in healthcare like narrative medicine, self-care, and critical self-reflection.