Published by Lookforzebras
Medical Humanities Journal serves as a vital platform for healthcare providers to publish creative writing, personal narratives, and essays. These journals shine a light on the emotional and ethical dimensions of medical practice, offering clinicians the opportunity to share their unique perspectives. Through reflective writing, healthcare professionals can explore the challenges, triumphs, and deeply human moments that shape their experiences in the medical field.
By bridging the gap between science and the human experience, Medical Humanities Journal fosters a deeper connection between medicine, art, and storytelling. It encourages readers to view healthcare through a lens that combines compassion with clinical expertise, enriching the understanding of both patients and practitioners. These publications celebrate the art of medicine and foster dialogue on healthcare’s profound impact on individuals and communities.
The many types of creative writing for healthcare providers
Perhaps you’ve had a memorable patient encounter and chose to document the experience to preserve it. Maybe you’ve experienced a patient death or poor outcome and found writing helps you process your emotions.
Working in medicine gives us a lot of material to write about.
It’s common for doctors, nurses, clinicians, and even healthcare administrators to have an interest in creative writing on the topics of medicine and patient care. A few types of such written works include:
- Essays
- Narratives
- Short stories
- Poetry
These written pieces can deal with any number of medical or healthcare-related issues. They can be written from the perspectives of clinicians, patients, family members, or anyone impacted by healthcare and medicine.
Why publish literary writing as a doctor?
An article in The Permanente Journal entitled What can we learn from narratives in medical education? points out the following:
narratives can be a real-time mirror of what happens on the front lines on a daily basis.
Literary writing stands apart from scientific writing in that it has a creative or artistic intent. However, writing and publishing our experiences as clinicians offers numerous benefits.
For the writer, creative writing can be healing and introspective. For the readers of a published piece – whether they are fellow doctors or providers, medical studies, or patients – creative writing can:
- Motivate
- Educate
- Entertain
It helps us practice our profession with greater compassion and empathy. By addressing the psychological and relational aspects of healthcare, we can bridge the gap in a field often focused on physical care. Ultimately, this approach enhances our effectiveness as healthcare providers.
So, you’ve written a creative piece on a medical topic
Regardless of the motive, format, length, how long it took you, how personal it is, and whether you consider yourself “a writer,” you should consider sharing it. One of the best ways to do this is by publishing it one of many outlets available for medical narratives and literary works.
Medical Literary And Medical Humanities Journal Options
Literary journals focusing on medical topics are a great option for any healthcare professional wishing to publish a piece of creative writing. Moreover, this type of journal serves as an excellent outlet if you aspire to be a writer. Whether you’re looking to publish more work, write a book, or build your author brand, these journals offer valuable opportunities for growth.
Here are 10 of the most well-known medical literary journals.
The Examined Life Journal – A journal founded by a group of physician-writers dedicated to exploring the intersection of art and medicine. The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine publishes it.
The Healing Muse – Medical Humanities Journal is an annual publication of literary and visual art by SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Center for Bioethics & Humanities.
Hektoen International – A journal published by the Hektoen Institute of Medicine that features original work relating medicine to the humanities.
Hospital Drive – The literary magazine of the UVA School of Medicine features poems and essays exploring themes of health, illness, and healing.
Intima – A journal of narrative medicine that includes contributions relating to the theory and practice of medicine. Their Crossroads Blog is another option for authors.
The Pharos – A quarterly journal published by the AOA since 1938. It includes scholarly essays covering an array of nontechnical medical subjects, including medical history, ethics, and medical-related literature.
Daedalus – The material published in this quarterly journal by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences goes far beyond medicine to include any issues of public importance, such as technology, international affairs, culture, and global security.
Pulse – Members of the Department of Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine started this publication, which welcomes submissions by “anyone who has a healthcare story to tell.”
The Pegasus Review – This journal was started by physicians at Stanford Medical Center who formed a writers’ circle to share their work, which gradually expanded in scope and audience.
Bellevue Literary Review – This is a journal of humanity and the human condition, including poetry, fiction, and nonfiction on the themes of health, illness, and healing.
Scientific journals that include creative writing
Medical Humanities Journal and a few scientific journals integrate literary works alongside research reports and technical articles. For instance, JAMA’s A Piece of My Mind showcases creative writing that highlights the human side of medicine, offering readers a blend of science and storytelling.
Publishing literary work in a scientific journal is competitive for a couple of reasons. First, the space dedicated to narrative essays in medical journals tends to be quite limited. Second, authors value the opportunity to reach dedicated physician and health professional audiences that these journals prominently attract.
This avenue is a definitely worth a try for certain types of writing. Don’t be discouraged if your piece is rejected. There are plenty of other publications to get your writing into.
Here are 6 popular medical journals that set aside a bit of space for creative works.
JAMA – A Piece of My Mind showcases personal vignettes from diverse medical experiences, often exploring the dynamics of physician-patient relationships. JAMA also publishes poems related to the medical experience.
NEJM – Medicine and Society covers social aspects of medicine and health care, including medical sociology, anthropology, history, and ethics.
Health Affairs – Medical Humanities Journal and publications like Narrative Matters showcase personal stories about experiences within the healthcare system. Using the power of literary nonfiction, these platforms highlight critical public policy issues while capturing the human side of medicine.
Academic Medicine – Medicine and the Arts, the journal’s longest feature, offers monthly insights on how new perspectives can transform common issues.
Journal of General Internal Medicine – Medical Humanities Journal offers diverse opportunities for submissions, including articles under the “Healing Arts” section. Personal narratives, essays, and short stories about medicine can be submitted to the Materia Medica series. Additionally, the newer column, The Spark, highlights powerful patient experiences that have inspired non-clinical career work, providing a platform for sharing impactful stories in healthcare.
Annals of Internal Medicine – On Being a Doctor and On Being a Patient include short personal essays about the experiences of physicians and patients, respectively. Ad Libitum is an option for poets.
Medical Humanities Journal is just one example among many popular medical journals. If your writing focuses on a specific medical field, consider submitting to specialized journals, much like selecting a journal for a scientific manuscript.
Quick word of caution: When submitting to any type of journal, read the submission requirements carefully! Not following them may mean desk rejection. If you’re going to get rejected, don’t let it be because you didn’t follow the directions.
Additional ways to publish your creative writing
Journals are not the only avenue for publishing your medical literary and narrative writing; other print and online publications also offer excellent opportunities.
Professional society publications
Check publications from any professional organization you’re a part of, including Medical Humanities Journal, medical specialty societies, state medical societies, or interest associations. Many of these offer opportunities to publish narratives and essays through newsletters, magazines, or restricted-access websites.
This option works well for writers targeting a specific audience, such as physicians in a particular specialty or healthcare setting.
Similar to scientific journals, these publications allocate limited space to essays and more narrative-style writing. However, they generally accept submissions more easily than peer-reviewed journals.
Your personal website or blog
If you write frequently (or want to), having your own website offers numerous benefits:
- You have total control over what you publish, when you publish it, and how it looks
- It can help you build a personal brand
- No time is wasted with the journal submission process
- You can go back and make edits whenever you wish
There are also drawbacks to publishing your writing on your own site:
- You need to cultivate and build your own audience over time.
- There is no recognized journal name linked to your work, and as a result, it won’t get indexed.
- There is a bit of technical work involved
Starting your own blog may take some time, but it is relatively straightforward. Alternatively, if you want to publish your writing but don’t have time to build a website from scratch, consider sharing it on platforms like LinkedIn or Medium. In addition, you can use social media to boost your writing and reach a wider audience.
Finally, contributing to a medical humanities journal or posting as a guest on a relevant website is a viable option. If you follow a blogger whose content closely aligns with your work, then consider reaching out to ask if they accept guest contributions, allowing you to share your narratives and insights.
Options for medical and health professions students
Medical students have all the options above, plus a few extra opportunities to explore and contribute. A number of medical schools have medical literary journals specifically geared toward (and often produced by) students, such as Florida State’s HEAL and University of Oklahoma’s Blood and Thunder.
There are also essay competitions for medical and health sciences students. You can get your creative writing published while also winning a scholarship in one seamless step. An example of this is the Hope Babette Thang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest.
Medical Humanities Journal: Publish Your Medical Narratives and Literary Work
You can publish this type of work without writing a book. Simple fiction or nonfiction essays, stories, or reflections deserve publication just as much as full-length books or compilations. If you’re proud of your writing, then consider publishing it so others can learn, grow, and benefit as well.
As physicians and scientists, we focus on scientific manuscripts and technical publications. While these types of writing are crucial to our profession, they often overlook the human side of medicine. Publishing literary work and medical narratives helps preserve stories, promotes healing, and, in turn, enhances patient care.