HERSHEY, Pa. — Dr. Michael Green, professor and interim chair of Penn State College of Medicine’s Department of Humanities, discussed how reading and creating comics helps students with practical doctoring skills during a panel discussion on March 1 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. He explained that the medium of comics can be used to tell stories about illness and those affected by it.
Green described how graphic medicine can help doctors be more empathetic, more observant of nonverbal communication and more aware of how patients see them. He teaches a popular course titled “Graphic Storytelling and Medical Narratives” to fourth-year medical students at the College of Medicine.
Green co-authored the book “Graphic Medicine Manifesto" with MK Czerwiec, Ian Williams, Susan Merrill Squier, Michael J. Green, Kimberly R. Myers and Scott T. Smith. "Manifesto" is a part of Penn State University Press’ Graphic Medicine series.
Ellen Forney, an artist and bestselling author, and MK Czerwiec, a nurse and senior fellow at the George Washington School of Nursing Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, joined him for the panel discussion at the NIH called “A Conversation about Graphic Medicine.”
In January, the National Library of Medicine launched an online exhibition and traveling display titled “Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived and Well Drawn.” As part of the exhibition, Green authored an online higher education curriculum on graphic medicine.
Watch the presentation and read more about Green’s unique course on Penn State Medicine.