Practice Overview
| Practice Name | NSU MD Storytelling Program |
| Description | To foster connection and well-being and build community, the Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (NSU MD) implemented storytelling sessions where speakers share their journey to medicine with other students, faculty, and staff. |
| Participants | All students, faculty, and staff |
| Frequency | At least quarterly |
| Modality | In person |
| Resources | Financial investment from the Offices of Community Affairs and Faculty Affairs, administrative time |
Introduction
In June 2023, the Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (NSU MD) implemented the Storytelling Program as a way to build community by providing students, faculty, staff, and leaders with an opportunity to share their personal narratives. The inspiration for the program came about during another program designed to bring people together called Coffee and Conversations, where faculty dropped in for coffee, bagels, and brief conversations with colleagues. During these sessions, Rolando DeLeon, MD, FACOG, founding chair and clinical associate professor, Clinical Sciences, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found himself frequently asking people to tell their “NSU Story” — how they got to NSU MD. He found the different paths to NSU MD very compelling. Arkene Levy Johnston, PhD, associate dean of Community Affairs, also shared this vision and saw an opportunity to formalize storytelling as a program aligned with the institution’s goal of cultivating a strong sense of community. To Levy Johnston, building a strong sense of community was especially important during the post-pandemic period as people were adjusting to working in-person again and many meetings and learning opportunities continued to be offered through virtual platforms. Together with DeLeon, Stefanie Carter, EdD, assistant dean of faculty affairs, Maria Padilla, MD, chief academic officer and executive associate dean of Academic and Student Affairs, and Vijay Rajput, MD, MACP, FRCP, chair of the Department of Medical Education, Levy Johnston led the creation and implementation of the Storytelling Program as a quarterly event run by the Offices of Community Engagement, Faculty Affairs, and Student Affairs.
“There’s more need for activity like this … because we get on Zoom and we get on with business. We don’t talk. … The small talk has disappeared in the medical world and I’m telling you as a physician in clinic when I see my students, I really feel sad because they just get into this checklist business. … We are losing that human-to-human connection.”
— Vijay Rajput, MD
Goals and Objectives
The goals of the Storytelling Program are to:
- Foster inspiration and understanding. By providing a forum for students, faculty, staff, and leaders to share their journeys in medical education, the program seeks to create opportunities for connection, inspiration, and mutual understanding.
- Build community and well-being. The in-person gatherings are designed to strengthen collaboration, social connection, and sense of belonging within the NSU MD community.
- Strengthen communication skills. The program provides resources and coaching to help participants develop engaging, authentic, and impactful storytelling and presentation skills.
- Promote scholarship. By supporting participants in transforming their stories into scholarly products, the program promotes scholarship and advances the academic mission.
Promising Practice Overview
Storytelling sessions are offered at least quarterly and are open to all students, faculty, and staff. The sessions are an hour long, held in-person, and lunch is provided. A typical session includes two speakers; After a brief introduction, each speaker shares their story of their journey to NSU MD and leaves some time at the end for questions. While the stories focus on the individual’s path to NSU MD, they are not a retelling of the individual’s curriculum vitae. Presentations are meant to be personal with speakers sharing how their life experiences shaped their path to medical education, who they are outside of academics, and the challenges they have faced.
Prior to each session, the program leaders send a call for speakers to students, faculty, and staff. To encourage broad participation, the program leaders also conduct targeted recruitment. Sometimes follow-up emails and discussions are required to secure speakers who may be apprehensive or timid. Once selected, the program leaders support the speakers by meeting with them to talk through the session and help them focus their story. All speakers receive a one-page document featuring tips for good storytelling and are encouraged to use slides with personal photographs to help illustrate their story. They have an opportunity to receive feedback on their slides and to practice their presentation with the program leaders. When possible, speakers are paired based on common themes. For example, the first session featured DeLeon and Padilla, who are both originally from Cuba, and this heritage served a common theme across their stories.
In addition to the quarterly storytelling sessions, when new leaders are hired, they are invited to share their stories at a special session. For example, when NSU MD appointed a new dean, Chad Perlyn, MD, PhD, MBA, and a new associate dean of research, Candice Sareli, MBBCh, each presented at a storytelling session. Providing new leaders with a venue to share their personal story allows them to engage with the community and to build trust during a critical period of transition. Perlyn’s session was so popular and inspiring that he repeated it at a university-wide level due to the amount of interest it generated.
Results and Impact
To evaluate the program, a standard evaluation tool consisting of eight core questions and two open-ended questions is sent to session attendees. Survey results have been positive, with 72% of respondents indicating that they were very likely or somewhat likely to attend a future session and 78% of participants indicating that the program was effective or moderately effective in helping develop a sense of belonging and inclusiveness at NSU MD. In addition, 61% of respondents indicated that the program was very effective in sharing the presenter’s journey into the health professions and medical education, encouraging community building, engagement, and camaraderie.
Anecdotally, the program leaders have observed how the program reduces inhibition, allowing individuals to feel safe and share things that they wouldn’t otherwise. The stories have helped humanize leaders and make them more relatable and accessible.
“Staff and faculty and students … realize, hey, this person didn't just show up as the, you know, chair of OBGYN or the chair of medical education. No, their life was very similar to yours in what their trials and tribulations were like or even more so. … It really humanizes us and makes us more accessible, especially to the students, and to other staff, and to the junior faculty.”
— Rolando DeLeon, MD
Resources Needed
The main resource needed to implement the Storytelling Program is time. This includes the program leaders’ (i.e., the associate dean for community affairs, assistant dean for faculty affairs, executive associate dean of academic and student affairs, and two department chairs) time for program administration, as well as the time of the speakers and program attendees. The program only has modest financial costs, with the most significant cost being the refreshments served at the storytelling sessions. The program is financially supported through the budgets of the associate dean for community affairs and the assistant dean for faculty affairs.
Challenges and Lessons Learned
The Storytelling Program team shared some key challenges and lessons learned that may be useful to others who are considering developing similar programs at their institutions:
- Get all leaders aligned from the start. Ensuring that goals are clear and aligned with college and institutional priorities from the beginning helps get buy-in and makes sure that processes flow well.
- Identify strategies to encourage participation from all roles. To date, mainly mid-career faculty and leaders have presented at storytelling sessions. The Storytelling Program leaders feel they are missing an important part of their community and are actively identifying ways to engage students, junior faculty, and staff as speakers.
- Ensure people see the value of the program. At medical schools, there are always competing demands, and programs like this can easily be put on the back burner. When people see the value in the program, they talk about it and attendance grows.
- Carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of offering the program via a virtual platform. NSU MD’s storytelling sessions have been in-person with the exception of Perlyn’s session, which was in-person with a virtual option for those who could not physically attend. The Storytelling Program is primarily in-person to promote engagement and connection, but program leaders acknowledge that this may pose a barrier for some individuals to participate.
Moving Forward
The structure, goals, and objectives of the Storytelling Program will remain largely the same going forward, but program leaders are brainstorming how to increase engagement from students and staff, particularly as speakers. They are also considering ways to expand the program to include members of the school community who are not on their main campus, due to being a clinical site or regional campus.
Acknowledgements
This case study is based on an Oct. 23, 2025, interview conducted with Arkene Levy Johnston, PhD, professor, associate dean of Community Affairs; Stefanie Carter, EdD, assistant professor, assistant dean of Faculty Affairs; Vijay Rajput, MD, MACP, professor, chair of Medical Education; Rolando DeLeon, MD, founding chair and clinical associate professor. The team would like to acknowledge all NSU MD storytelling presenters who have been bold enough to share their stories: Broderick Jones, MD, Vanessa Johnson, PhD, Rolando DeLeon, MD, Maria Padilla, MD, MSc, MEdL, Chad Perlyn, MD, PhD, MBA, Candice Sareli, MBBCh, Scott Lind, MD, and Kallidaikurichi Venkatachalam, PhD.
Medical School Statistics
| Name of Institution | Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (NSU MD) |
| Location | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| School Size as of 2024: Number of medical students Number of full-time faculty Number of staff | 2061 522 253 |
| Public/Private | Private |
- Source: 2024 AAMC Student Record System. Enrollment includes the number of students in medical school, including students on a leave of absence, on Oct. 31 of each year shown. Enrollment does not include students with graduated, dismissed, withdrawn, deceased, never enrolled, completed fifth pathway, did not complete fifth pathway, or degree revoked statuses. Back to text ↑
- Source: AAMC. Faculty Roster: U.S. Medical School Faculty. 2024. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/faculty-institutions/report/faculty-roster-us-medical-school-faculty. Accessed October 30 2025. Back to text ↑
- Source: NSU MD. Office of Human Affairs. Back to text ↑
For more information, contact Amy Smith or Carolyn Brayko. Interested in more promising practices? Visit our full collection of case studies on strategy, operations, and organizational culture.