The Center for Narrative Medicine at Peking University Health Science Center was established in October 2020. The director of the Center is Professor Guo Liping, vice dean of the School of Heath Humanities, Peking University. The deputy director is Jin Changxiao, professor and secretary of the CPC committee of Peking University Third Hospital. The chairman of the academic committee is Professor Wang Yifang from the School of Heath Humanities. The Center currently has 21 members, 12 of whom are full professors, 5 associate professors and 4 lecturers. Members are respectively affiliated to the School of Health Humanities, Peking University Third Hospital and Beijing Jishuitan Hospital. The School of Health Humanities will supervise the management of personnel and property of the Center. The Center implements an annual report system.
The term “Narrative Medicine” was proposed by Professor Rita Charon of Columbia University in 2000. It was formally introduced to China in 2011. Since then the Chinese medical community has widely recognized its theories and practices and regarded it as the tool to bring medical humanities into clinical practice. The Chinese journal of Narrative Medicine was launched in 2018. Narrative Medicine, a textbook for the standardized training of residents approved by the National Health Commission, was published in April 2020. In September 2020, the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association established a secondary branch of Narrative Medicine. A four-volume “Peking University Narrative Medicine Series” is planned to be published by the Peking University Medical Press. It can therefore be concluded that both the research and practice of Narrative Medicine are in full swing in China. The founding of the Center will undoubtedly further the localization and deepening of Narrative Medicine in China.
The Center aims to carry out research in the following five fields: Theories of Narrative Medicine, Practices of Narrative Medicine, Narrative Medicine in China, Narrative Medicine in the World, and Comparative Narrative Medicine. It is the Center’s hope to set up new foundations in both theoretical and practical research, so as to constantly bring innovations and breakthroughs to the theories and practices of Narrative Medicine. In order to take advantage of the integration and innovation potentials in interdisciplinary studies, the Center will also cooperate closely with the research teams and practice bases of the School of Health Humanities, Peking University Third Hospital, and Beijing Jishuitan Hospital. A decade later, or in 2030 when the Healthy China Initiative will have been realized, the Center will strive to develop itself into a world-leading Narrative Medicine research center with first-class research capacities.
Research Fields: Theories of Narrative Medicine, Practices of Narrative Medicine, Narrative Medicine in China, Narrative Medicine in the World, and Comparative Narrative Medicine.
Director: Prof. Guo Liping (guolp@bjmu.edu.cn)
Contact: Dr. Li Yuanda (liyuanda@bjmu.edu.cn, 010-82805320 )
Address: Room 701, Yifu Building, Peking University Health Science Centre, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China, 100191.
