Harnessing the power of storytelling in GP specialty training: a pathway to empathy and holistic care.

Abstract

As general practice (GP) training increasingly emphasises holistic care, it becomes essential to address not only the clinical but also the emotional, social and cultural dimensions of patient care. Traditional GP training often focuses on clinical skills, potentially neglecting these broader aspects, leading to a disconnect between healthcare providers and patients. This teaching exchange paper explores the integration of storytelling into GP training as a means to enhance narrative competency and empathy, key components of holistic care. The GP Specialty Trainees (GPSTs) were guided through engaging deeply with patient stories during personalised one-on-one training sessions, learning how to reflect on their experiences and seeing patients as persons with complex lives. This led to a significant shift in approach taken by trainees in the way consultations were conducted - from purely clinical to increasingly patient-centred. The intervention underlined the centrality of narrative competence for achieving culturally sensitive and empathic care, thus suggesting storytelling as one of the crucial tools of GP education. Qualitative insights of the intervention confirm that it holds the potential to prime future GPs for care not only clinically sound but also deeply integrated with the personal and cultural context of the patient.