Storytelling as a method for teaching values and attitudes

Storytelling is not widely accepted as a teaching method in medical education, sometimes for valid reasons that are explained by the authors. Yet clinician-teachers who choose and tell stories appropriately--especially if these are stories of their own clinical experiences--can stimulate their students to examine their values and attitudes in ways that would be hard or impossible to achieve by other methods. The present article, which contains a story of the type advocated, shows how storytelling can help students and residents discuss and overcome their crises of professionalization and come to grips with the troubling aspects of the doctor-patient relationship. The authors maintain that storytelling allows educators to bring the discussion of values and attitudes to where students are most likely to appreciate and understand the message--the clinical encounter.