Didactics

In 2022, I noticed a gap in what I was seeing in the medical humanities.

Stories seemed to follow similar characters along similar growth arcs. Few dared to venture outside of the standard story structure: The doctor is the hero, the patient is saved. Under-celebrated voices from marginalized and minoritized groups are too infrequently elevated, and those of us with such identities frequently feel stuck in tired narratives of inspiration — suffering that sometimes is overcome. These narratives are important — but they are not our only narratives.

After conferring with leaders in the medical humanities and disability community at Stanford, I decided to create Didactics: an online medical humanities publications that seeks to amplify the voices of under-represented, minoritized, and under-celebrated groups in medicine. We publish annually, and accept all forms of art and storytelling. We have two volumes published, and are recruiting stories for our third.

Didactics is different because we will provide detailed, constructive feedback to anyone who submits to our journal. At least two editors review each piece, and we will give you this feedback to do with what you will. Any changes are ultimately up to the author/artist. Authors/artists may also submit their pieces to other journals/magazines — we are happy to help with edits, improving your work, and helping you grow as an artist even if you do not ultimately end up publishing your piece with us. As we know many submissions to our journal focus on stigmatized topics, we gladly accept anonymous submissions. In this work, our publication attempts to work against the facets of white supremacy culture that permeate all aspects of our society — instead choosing to build a supportive community.

I have been so blessed by the community Didactics has provided me. I have gotten to connect with artists and writers from across the globe who also happen to be clinicians, researchers, educators, and patients. I have been privileged to work with them to edit their work and publish it to our communities. We have also built an incredible editorial staff, and working with them has been a dream. Although our effort is still small, I hope that the elevation of our artists’ voices might make them feel more heard and welcomed in the field of medicine, and help clinicians to learn to see their patients more fully, to appreciate their strengths, and to understand that with diversity comes power and excellence.