Conor Mc Donnell reads a passage from his new book of poetry What We Know So Far Is... (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). Filled with vivid imagery, literary allusions, contemplations on the role of language, and cultural references, Conor joins the revival of the long poem movement.

Conor kindly recorded this reading to accompany a feature article about this latest publication, available for reading over on the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab.

Published by Wolsak & Wynn, What We Know So Far Is… is out now and available for order online and from your local bookstore.

Petal Abdool reads "The Tree of Life," a poem first penned in her youth and completed years later. Listen along and trace the passage of time woven through its lines.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Petal Abdool shares how storytelling and lived experience bring medicine to life: from actors performing King Lear to help psychiatry residents reflect on aging to stepping into a geriatric suit to feel the physical challenges of growing older. She sheds light on how these immersive, hands-on experiences go beyond textbooks to help learners connect more deeply with their patients.

About Our Guest:

Petal Abdool is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a geriatric psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

She is the Medical Director of the CAMH Simulation Centre and Faculty Lead for Simulation Education Integration at Postgraduate Medical Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, where her research focuses on simulation-based medical education and care for seniors experiencing homelessness and living with severe mental illness.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Ryan Giroux reflects on his journey as a Métis physician, exploring identity, marginalization in Canada, and the struggle of belonging that shaped a resilient and distinct Métis culture in this personal narrative.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Ryan Giroux shares how his experiences as an Indigenous resident inspired his work to support Indigenous learners in medicine. He discusses creating more inclusive residency training by fostering strong relationships among learners, faculty, and support staff. Through narrative-based medicine, he honours the stories of colleagues and transforms them into meaningful change in medical education and patient care.

About Our Guest:

Ryan Giroux is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto and a general paediatrician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto focusing on urban Indigenous child health.

He serves as the Postgraduate Medical Education Indigenous Health Faculty Lead at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and an Indigenous Educator with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He also serves on the Canadian Paediatric Society’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Health Committee, contributing to national advocacy and education efforts.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Rory O'Sullivan reads from an original short narrative, "Teachings," which first appeared in Pulse in 2024.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

In this episode, Rory O'Sullivan chats with us about his work as a writer and family physician. He shares the place that writing holds in his life and how it interacts with his clinical work, as well as offering advice on balancing careers and thoughts on publication strategies for those starting out. Rory also shares the latest on his pseudonymous psychological thriller: Waking on the Ground.

About Our Guest:

Rory O'Sullivan is a family doctor who practices comprehensive family medicine at the Garrison Creek Clinic in Toronto. In his 12 years in practice, Rory has worked in emergency rooms and hospitals across several provinces and served for nearly 3 years as the community physician for the Poplar Hill First Nation in Northwestern Ontario.

He is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Toronto, where he teaches reflective practice as part of the portfolio course for undergraduate medical students, and is currently enrolled in the NBM Lab’s Advanced Certificate.

His written work has been published in medical journals and magazines including The Intima, Pulse, and Canadian Family Physician. He is a past recipient of the CFPC Mimi Divinsky Award for history and narrative in family medicine, and a long-listed finalist for the International Amy MacRae Award for memoir. His latest publication Waking on the Ground is a novella written under the pen name "Eamon Rourke," available on Kobo and Kindle platforms.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the ⁠Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Darian Goldin Stahl invites us to expand our perspective on what a book is, and what the act of reading a book entails, as she shares an excerpt from the introduction of Embodied Books: Experiencing the Health Humanities through Artists’ Books (Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2024).

Artist and scholar Darian Goldin Stahl joins us for a conversation about her work making (and teaching others to make) embodied books: beautiful, physical manifestations of health stories. Darian shares how her work in this field has origins in her family history and a family collaboration, which has become a profoundly original and generative approach to health humanities over time.

About Our Guest:

Darian Goldin Stahl is an interdisciplinary printmaker whose work explores themes of healthcare, disability, and well-being. After earning an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Alberta, she completed a research-creation PhD in Humanities at Concordia. Her dissertation, Embodied Books: Experiencing the Health Humanities through Artists’ Books, was published by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers in 2024.

She was awarded a SSHRC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the UNBC Northern Medical Program, which she used to launch the Embodied Books Project. This initiative empowers intrepid bookmakers to create new artists’ books on personal medical experiences.

Her own artist’s books are included in many prominent permanent collections around the world, such as the Wellcome Collection in London, the Moody Library at Baylor University in Texas, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, and the Herron Library at Indiana University.

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Follow "NBM Talks" for future episodes, where we explore the transformative impact and reach of narrative-based medicine with talented guests. Visit the Narrative-Based Medicine Lab⁠ to learn about our work and offerings.

Monica Kidd reads an excerpt from her new novel The Crane (Breakwater, 2025).