My Life, My Story
My Life, My Story (MLMS) is a VA program where Veterans are interviewed about their life story. The interview is written up into a first person narrative, reviewed with the Veteran and, with the Veteran’s permission, entered into the healthcare record as a resource for the care team to know more about the Veteran as a person, in their own words.
My Life My Story
My Life, My Story (MLMS) is a VA program where Veterans are interviewed about their life story. The interview is written up into a first person narrative, reviewed with the Veteran and, with the Veteran’s permission, entered into the healthcare record as a resource for the care team to know more about the Veteran as a person, in their own words.
At VA Boston, we have framed MLMS as a structured educational intervention to enhance Veteran-centered, Whole Health care, with a focus on knowing the whole person and building the therapeutic relationship. MLMS allows healthcare providers to learn who Veterans are beyond their diagnoses.
From April 2016 to January 2021 over 1,000 stories have been written at VA Boston with involvement from over 800 learners-ranging from students to graduate level-from various health and social professions training programs including: physician assistant, medicine, social work, pharmacy, psychology, speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing. Over 5,000 stories have been collected nationwide across 60 VA medical centers and the program has been spreading to non-VA hospitals in the Boston medical community.
Manuscripts
- A Value-Added Health Systems Science Intervention Based on My Life, My Story for Patients Living with HIV and Medical Students: Translating Narrative Medicine from Classroom to Clinic - PubMed (nih.gov)
- My Life, My Story: Patient Experience Evaluation in Palliative Care | Federal Practitioner (mdedge.com)
- Harnessing Patient Life Stories to Engage Medical Trainees in Strengthening Veteran-Provider Relationships - PubMed (nih.gov)
- My Life, Our Story: Safeguarding Patient Agency in Narrative Medicine Curricula - PubMed (nih.gov)
- Barbour, S., & Fleming, E. A. (2024). Using the Electronic Health Record to Facilitate Patient-Physician Relationship While Establishing Care. Annals of family medicine, 22(5), 457. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.3142
- Brown, N., Binder, E., Jindal, S/K. (2024). My Life, My Story: An approach to what matters most, SGIM Forum, May 2024. https://www.sgim.org/article/my-life-my-story-an-approach-to-what-matters-most/
- Capitulo, K.; Olender, L. (2023). Voices of women veterans: My Life, My Story. Nursing, 53(5), 55-60. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000923660.93831.c4
- Chang G, Duffy MJ, Nathan S. My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems. Patient Experience Journal. 2025; 12(1):46-54. doi: 10.35680/2372-0247.1963. https://pxjournal.org/journal/vol12/iss1/9/
- Feingold-Link, M. (2020). A Bear in the Woods. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120519899391
- Ferri, G.M., Morgan, S., Pasco, J.C., et al. (2023). Listening more and measuring less: Student and faculty perspectives on social narratives in care for older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(3): E5-E8. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18225
- Morgan, S., Pasco, J. C., Demers, L., Young, M. E., & Jindal, S. K. (2024). Combating ageism in medical education with narrative medicine. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 46(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2024.2302594
- Nathan, S. N., Ahrendsen, O. K., & Moye, J. (2024). Enhancing trauma-informed care preparation through life story work. Gerontology & geriatrics education, 1–11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2024.2412559
- Raff, J. P., Sege, J., Braiotta, R., Jafri, F. N., Cook, B., Steiner-Grossman, P., & Cohen, F. (2024). The Impact of a Narrative Medicine Life Story Pilot Program on Press Ganey™ Scores in an Outpatient Cancer Center. Health communication, 39(10), 2079–2089. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2255761
- Roberts, T.J., Ringler, T., Jovaag, S. (2021). The VA Storybook Program: Humanizing Care With Nurse Stories. Nursing Science Quarterly, 34(4), 398-404. https://doi.org/10.1177/08943184211031575
- Tummala, M., & McNicoll, L. (2025). Using Life Stories to Support Patient-Centered Care: A Narrative Review of Implementation and Impact. Journal of general internal medicine, 10.1007/s11
6-6. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-025-09746-6 - Ulin, L., Knight, H., Lawton, A. J., & Nathan, S. (2024). Narrative Approaches to Serious Illness Care. Journal of palliative medicine, 27(12), 1672–1674. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2024.0399
Podcasts
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Talking Later: Veterans' Stories of Late-Life PTSD on Apple Podcasts
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My Life, My Story Project Changes the Landscape of Patient Care | AHIMA HI Pitch (simplecast.com)
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VA Presents: My Life, My Story on Apple Podcasts
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The Whole Health Cure Podcast-“My Life, My Story with Susan Nathan” Episode 72
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The Life Story Coach-“My Life, My Story with Susan Nathan and Thor Ringler” Episode 38
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Health Literacy Out Loud-“My Life, My Story: An Initiative to Help Tell Each Patient’s Story” Episode 196
News Articles
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My Life My Story program adds life stories to veteran’s medical records (fiftyplusadvocate.com)
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Learning to Listen to Patients’ Stories - The New York Times
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Honing the craft: How medical schools weave arts and humanities into education | AAMC
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To Improve Care, Veterans Affairs Asks Patients Their Life Stories - WSJ
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Medical Storytelling at the VA Bridges Gap Between Patients And Caregivers : Shots - Health News : NPR
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VA Program Humanizes the Care Experience: Press Ganey
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Doctors are taught early about patient histories. Is it time for different questions?: The Washington Post