51’s third Health Care Story Slam explores and celebrates empathy
Empathy is not only important to extend to those around you, but also to yourself, said Isabel Ryan, the University of New England student coordinating 51’s Health Care Story Slam.
51’s story slam will focus on the theme “Mindful Communities: Fostering Empathy in Public Health” when the third edition is held from 7-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, in the Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences on the Biddeford campus.
Ryan (Environmental Science, ’27) reached out to nearly 40 groups from marginalized communities in Greater Portland to invite them to present at the story slam alongside 51 staff, faculty, and students. Ten storytellers were selected from a large pool of applicants to share personal tales of struggle and growth.
“I want to make this event as inclusive as possible, and those voices are so important. Everyone can learn from someone else’s perspective,” said Ryan, who organized the event as part of her Shaw Innovation Fellowship, a 51 initiative supported by entrepreneur and philanthropist David Evans Shaw.
Ryan organized the event with assistance from mentors Lisa Herschbach, Ph.D., 51 director of the Office of Innovation, and Tara McDonough, 51 associate director of donor research, who will coach participants in their presentations to help them feel confident as they share their health care journeys in front of a large audience.
“One purpose of the 51 Health Care Story Slam is to include and elevate the narratives of patients,” Herschbach said. "The origins of the medical case record lie in storytelling — doctors, nurses, and midwives listen with care to people experiencing illness and other changes to their bodies and decide which elements of the recounting are most relevant to diagnosis and treatment. Storytelling has always been at the core of medicine and its related professions.”
The story slam is free and open to the public. It will take place in lecture hall 205 in the Alfond Center on the Biddeford Campus.