In this study, we interviewed 30 students training for three areas of healthcare: medicine, nursing, and medical family therapy (MedFT). Through grounded theory analysis of these interviews, we looked to understand how these providers connected their own experiences with illness to their clinical work, particularly in including patients’ family members in care. The majority of participants, and especially those in medicine and nursing disciplines, described a tension between their desire to connect with patients and families and their developing definition of professionalism. For others, the impact of students’ personal experiences with illness seemed to provide a different definition of professionalism, making these personal connections more purposeful. We found that students described four significant processes around a core category of defining professionalism: (1) facing discrepancies between ideals around being a healthcare provider and students’ lived experiences, (2) coping with the challenges of healthcare culture, (3) navigating relationships between own experiences with illness and patients’ experiences, and (4) attempting to connect more closely with patients and their families. Implications suggest that training programs across disciplines consider how to support self-of-the-provider reflection, relational perspectives of illness, and students’ abilities to connect with patients and include families in care.
Keywords: medical family therapy, illness narratives, collaborative care, family-centered care.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this study, we interviewed 30 students training for three areas of healthcare: medicine, nursing, and medical family therapy (MedFT). Through grounded theory analysis of these interviews, we looked to understand how these providers connected their own experiences with illness to their clinical work, particularly in including patients’ family members in care. The majority of participants, and especially those in medicine and nursing disciplines, described a tension between their desire to connect with patients and families and their developing definition of professionalism. For others, the impact of students’ personal experiences with illness seemed to provide a different definition of professionalism, making these personal connections more purposeful. We found that students described four significant processes around a core category of defining professionalism: (1) facing discrepancies between ideals around being a healthcare provider and students’ lived experiences, (2) coping with the challenges of healthcare culture, (3) navigating relationships between own experiences with illness and patients’ experiences, and (4) attempting to connect more closely with patients and their families. Implications suggest that training programs across disciplines consider how to support self-of-the-provider reflection, relational perspectives of illness, and students’ abilities to connect with patients and include families in care.</p> <p>Keywords: medical family therapy, illness narratives, collaborative care, family-centered care.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lawson, Lindsey Ann"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Counseling and Family Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Knudson-Martin, Carmen","Hernandez, Barbara Couden","Oloo, Winetta Baker","Williams-Reade, Jackie"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:27Z","subjects":["Counseling","Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling","Medicine and Health Sciences","Mental and Social Health","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Clinical Clerkship - Standards; Attitude of Health Personnel; Continuity of Patient Care; Patients - Psychology; Family Health; Health Knowledge; Physician-Patient Relations","Medical Family Therapy; Illness Narratives; Collaborative Care; Family-Centered Care; Relational Perspectives of Illness"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/301","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Knudson-Martin, Carmen","Hernandez, Barbara Couden","Oloo, Winetta Baker","Williams-Reade, Jackie"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lawson, Lindsey Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Counseling and Family Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Counseling","Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling","Medicine and Health Sciences","Mental and Social Health","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Clinical Clerkship - Standards; Attitude of Health Personnel; Continuity of Patient Care; Patients - Psychology; Family Health; Health Knowledge; Physician-Patient Relations","Medical Family Therapy; Illness Narratives; Collaborative Care; Family-Centered Care; Relational Perspectives of Illness"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/301"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this study, we interviewed 30 students training for three areas of healthcare: medicine, nursing, and medical family therapy (MedFT). Through grounded theory analysis of these interviews, we looked to understand how these providers connected their own experiences with illness to their clinical work, particularly in including patients’ family members in care. The majority of participants, and especially those in medicine and nursing disciplines, described a tension between their desire to connect with patients and families and their developing definition of professionalism. For others, the impact of students’ personal experiences with illness seemed to provide a different definition of professionalism, making these personal connections more purposeful. We found that students described four significant processes around a core category of defining professionalism: (1) facing discrepancies between ideals around being a healthcare provider and students’ lived experiences, (2) coping with the challenges of healthcare culture, (3) navigating relationships between own experiences with illness and patients’ experiences, and (4) attempting to connect more closely with patients and their families. Implications suggest that training programs across disciplines consider how to support self-of-the-provider reflection, relational perspectives of illness, and students’ abilities to connect with patients and include families in care.
Keywords: medical family therapy, illness narratives, collaborative care, family-centered care.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Student Healthcare Providers' Illness Narratives: Impact on Family-Focused Care"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Knudson-Martin, Carmen","Hernandez, Barbara Couden","Oloo, Winetta Baker","Williams-Reade, Jackie"],"dc:creator":["Lawson, Lindsey Ann"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this study, we interviewed 30 students training for three areas of healthcare: medicine, nursing, and medical family therapy (MedFT). Through grounded theory analysis of these interviews, we looked to understand how these providers connected their own experiences with illness to their clinical work, particularly in including patients’ family members in care. The majority of participants, and especially those in medicine and nursing disciplines, described a tension between their desire to connect with patients and families and their developing definition of professionalism. For others, the impact of students’ personal experiences with illness seemed to provide a different definition of professionalism, making these personal connections more purposeful. We found that students described four significant processes around a core category of defining professionalism: (1) facing discrepancies between ideals around being a healthcare provider and students’ lived experiences, (2) coping with the challenges of healthcare culture, (3) navigating relationships between own experiences with illness and patients’ experiences, and (4) attempting to connect more closely with patients and their families. Implications suggest that training programs across disciplines consider how to support self-of-the-provider reflection, relational perspectives of illness, and students’ abilities to connect with patients and include families in care.
Keywords: medical family therapy, illness narratives, collaborative care, family-centered care.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/301"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:rights":["This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights."],"dc:subject":["Counseling","Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling","Medicine and Health Sciences","Mental and Social Health","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences","Clinical Clerkship - Standards; Attitude of Health Personnel; Continuity of Patient Care; Patients - Psychology; Family Health; Health Knowledge; Physician-Patient Relations","Medical Family Therapy; Illness Narratives; Collaborative Care; Family-Centered Care; Relational Perspectives of Illness"],"dc:title":["Student Healthcare Providers' Illness Narratives: Impact on Family-Focused Care"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Counseling and Family Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:52:27Z"}