NBM Talks: Podcast from the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab

Allan Peterkin (Program Director at the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab) recently received National Award for Excellence in the Health Humanities awarded by the Canadian Association of Health Humanities.To celebrate this extraordinary achievement, we're revisiting this conversation where Allan shares how he weaves his passion for medicine and literature throughout his professional career. Allan also touches on how he sees the field of narrative-based medicine evolving and the importance of honouring stories in the practice of medicine.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Sarah Kim encourages us to imagine what's possible with a prompt of imagination and magical powers. Find a quiet spot and pick up a pencil for this guided writing exercise that will help you pay closer attention to the mind-body connection and find greater clarity in your thoughts.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠⁠⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

John Launer invites us to draw inspiration from an ordinary moment in this guided writing exercise. Begin with a recent moment or memory, pick up where the events left off, and let your imagination ponder where the story might go next.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Summer is here and we're kicking off the season by revisiting a few of our earlier episodes.Today, we're rerunning this conversation with Sarah Kim (Temerty Medicine Medical Education Health Humanities Theme Lead).Sarah brings her attentive eye to such diverse issues as medical education, mindfulness, high performance, and the practitioner’s body, considering how they all relate back to the questions raised by narrative-based medicine. She also reflects on her own professional journey and the value of engaging with the arts and humanities in medical training and practice.Interested in hearing more? Sarah has interviewed colleagues and other Temerty Medicine Theme Leads at the University of Toronto about their wide-ranging work. Browse our podcast catalogue to listen to these great conversations.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

We're celebrating 50 episodes of NBM Talks! To mark the occasion, this special episode was recorded live at the NBM Lab when members of our community gathered in Toronto for a celebration of how far we've come and the collaborative spirit that keeps us going.A roundtable discussion featuring lab leaders (Damian Tarnopolsky, Karen Gold, Sarah Kim, and Allan Peterkin) in conversation with the audience, this anniversary episode offers reflections on our journey and thoughts on the future of narrative-based medicine as its reach continues to expand.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Damian Tarnopolsky (Creative Lead, Narrative-Based Medicine Lab) introduces the conversations, inspiration, and content you can expect to find on NBM Talks.

Sayantani DasGupta shares a creative work in progress that reflects on the difficulty of writing during uncertain times. The piece explores the fear, vulnerability, and responsibility that can accompany creative expression in moments of political and social instability.This reading is an excerpt from a longer piece that originally appeared on Literary Hub in February 2026 entitled "How Do We Keep Writing When They Are Killing Poets?" available here: https://lithub.com/how-do-we-keep-writing-when-they-are-killing-poets/Excerpted reading featured with permission from the author and Literary Hub.

In this episode, Sayantani DasGupta reflects on how growing up in an activist family shaped her view of medicine as a tool for social justice. She discusses the resonances between her work as a paediatrician supporting children's health, as an educator facilitating the intellectual and emotional growth of learners, and as an author nurturing the imagination of young readers. Together, these perspectives demonstrate how storytelling and representation can help people see themselves more fully in the world and in healthcare.About Our Guest:Sayantani DasGupta is a paediatrician and Senior Lecturer in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She is a faculty member in the Master’s Program in Narrative Medicine as well as the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.Trained in public health, Sayantani’s work focuses on narrative humility, medical education, racial justice and health, diaspora studies, and science fiction and health futurities. Her writing has appeared in journals such as The Lancet, JAMA, and The Journal of Pediatrics. She serves as an associate editor of Literature and Medicine. She is also a New York Times bestselling children’s author and co-author of The Principles and Practice of Narrative Medicine (Oxford UP, 2016).***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Patricia Houston reflects on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of collaboration across multidisciplinary healthcare teams, including how shared responsibility, communication, and mutual support shaped patient care and strengthened resilience in the face of uncertainty.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Patricia Houston (Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine) is a longstanding leader in health professions education. In this wide-ranging conversation, she reflects on the extraordinary privilege that comes with caring for others as a health professional and the importance of understanding the full context and the people at the centre of the stories that we receive.Reflecting on her work as an anesthesiologist in Toronto during both the SARS outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, Patricia shares how these experiences shaped her collaborative approach to leadership and discusses her journey, values, and the ideas that have influenced how she leads and supports healthcare teams today.About Our Guest:Patricia Houston serves as Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine where she offers strategic leadership to align learner supports and programs, faculty processes, and systems across the continuum of medical education. This portfolio includes undergraduate medical education (MD Program), residency and fellowship training (Postgraduate Medical Education), continuing professional development (CPD), as well as programs that train the next generation of physician scientists and physician assistants.A Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto and Former President of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, Patricia is widely recognized for her contributions to collaborative healthcare leadership.***Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.