Narrative in Medicine: The Stories of Elite College Athletes' Career-Ending Injuries

Abstract
A qualitative investigation of the illness experience of injured elite collegiate athletes illustrates the relevance of narrative to clinical practice. The article demonstrates a method for systematically assessing illness narratives and provides evidence that story patterns of clinical significance result. By adding a narrative approach to the biomedical one, it is argued, both the psyche and the pathophysiology of the sufferer can be the subjects of healing.