The Intima was created by several students in the Narrative Medicine Master's Program at Columbia University. As students there, we have been supported in our efforts at self-expression mainly,but not exclusively by the use of close reading and our own responses to that process by way of writing prompts.

Our writings have often taken us to places we never experienced, that we did not know resided deep within. Similarly our expressive need has been fulfilled by painting, photography, creating/performing music, and many other modalities. As well, our efforts at self-examination and expository writing have been guided by our most supportive and talented faculty. Their encouragement and their interest in our development have brought us so far. This collection is a direct result.

Now that our depths have been primed, we seek an ongoing mode of self-expression as a group, to continue outside the classroom that which was created within. With that in mind we call ourselves and our efforts The Intima, resonating on the concept  that Narrative Medicine defines itself as the intimate interface between two people, one as healer, one as being healed, yet both yielding and both gaining from the experience. The Intima also has an anatomical reality, being that layer that lines a blood vessel, where the vehicle and its cargo meet, an apt analogy for the very heart of the Narrative Process.

The Intima is an electronic journal dedicated to promoting the theory and practice of Narrative Medicine, an interdisciplinary field aiming to enhance health care through the development of effective communication and understanding between caregivers and their patients.

By providing an online venue for the expression of personal experience within the medical arena, The Intima creates space for caregivers, professionals, patients, and families to share their narratives in a format that fosters empathy, reflection, and deeper understanding of the diversity inherent in effective delivery of care.