In Portugal as well, narrative medicine is gaining voice and space: a language that brings people together in care, weaving patients’ stories with professionals’ expertise.
In recent years, more and more universities have chosen to give value to words, to teach how to listen, and to build bridges between science and humanity.
Among these initiatives, two experiences illustrate in an exemplary way how narrative medicine can change the perspective of those who care and those who are cared for: in Porto, bioethicist Susana Magalhães interweaves narrative and ethics to humanize scientific research; in Lisbon, professor Teresa Casal brings literature into medical classrooms to teach that understanding begins with listening.
Two different paths, one shared vision: a medicine that does not limit itself to healing, but welcomes, understands, and accompanies—because health does not live only in clinical data, but in the stories of those who experience it.
In Porto, Narrative as the Ethics of Science
At the Universidade do Porto, stories are not only told—they are listened to, discussed, and shared.
Susana Magalhães, bioethicist and researcher, teaches that narrative medicine is not just a writing exercise but a way of reflecting on the responsibility of those who practice science.
In her work at i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, narrative becomes a bridge between the world of research and the real lives that such research touches.
Through university courses and projects—such as the Narrative Medicine program at Universidade Fernando Pessoa—Magalhães guides doctors, nurses, and researchers in rediscovering the human core of their profession.
In 2018, she founded GERMEN – Grupo de Estudos e Reflexão em Medicina Narrativa, a study group that brings together professionals and students in an ongoing dialogue about what it truly means to “care.”
During workshops, participants write, read, and share their experiences.
Some speak about the difficulty of telling the truth to a patient, others recount an unexpected recovery, others reflect on a mistake that still weighs on them.
Every story becomes an opportunity for awareness, a way to transform technical knowledge into human understanding.
In Porto, narrative medicine is not a theory but a daily practice: an invitation to slow down, look into the eyes of the person before you, and restore dignity and meaning to every voice.
In Lisbon, Literature Meets Medicine
At the Faculdade de Letras of the Universidade de Lisboa, Teresa Casal welcomes her students with a simple gesture: she opens a book.
Not a medical manual, but a novel, a diary, a poem. Together, they read, discuss, and write.
Each page becomes a mirror, each word a way to enter another person’s world.
Casal believes that literature and the arts can teach how to feel.
In her courses—from the Curso Livre de Medicina Narrativa to the optional modules of the Mestrado Integrado em Medicina—students learn to read not only medical charts but the people behind them.
During the lessons, emotions and reflections are shared: a patient’s fear, a young doctor’s fatigue, the hope born from healing.
Casal guides students along a path of deep listening, where words become tools of empathy and narrative becomes a practice of care.
Alongside her teaching, Casal conducts research in the Health Humanities, studying how narrative can transform the training of health professionals and improve the doctor–patient relationship.
Her research shows that listening is not wasted time—it is time gained in trust, understanding, and well-being.
Two Paths, One Shared Vision
In Porto and Lisbon, narrative medicine takes on different nuances but lives from the same spirit: placing the person at the center.
In Porto, Susana Magalhães teaches how science can be an ethical and relational act.
In Lisbon, Teresa Casal shows that literature can become a tool for care and awareness.
Both believe that stories are the most direct path to knowing the human being.
And in their universities, doctors, students, and researchers are learning that good care always begins with good listening.
A Growing Movement, a Culture That Cares
The experiences of Porto and Lisbon are just two facets of a broader movement that is restoring humanity and voice to medicine throughout Portugal.
Today, more and more universities, hospitals, and research centers promote courses, workshops, and projects dedicated to narrative, convinced that words can change the quality of care.
From the north to the south of the country, narrative medicine is becoming a true culture of care: a way of practicing healthcare that is more empathetic, participatory, and aware.
In a time when technology is advancing and human contact risks being lost, these experiences remind us that medicine is not only a science of the body but also an art of encounter.
The work of Susana Magalhães and Teresa Casal is proof of this: two women, two universities, two paths converging toward the same horizon.
A medicine capable of listening, telling, and sharing.
Because every story, when listened to with respect, becomes a form of care.
And every act of care, when born from a story, becomes deeply human.