As physicians, when we span this continuum of clinical storytelling — from the medical record and case presentations to narrative and fiction — we come full circle by taking what we learn in training and in our clinical practices and giving it life. It’s a practical fusion of science and art.

Beyond that, pushing clinical material into the realm of fiction offers endless opportunities to gather insight into the wonderful complexity of being human. For physicians, this is a path that’s worth the trip. Our training as doctors starts us on the road; should we choose to follow, it brings us to the whole story, the whole person, and the bigger truth.

Charles Atkins is a psychiatrist at Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut, a member of the Yale University clinical faculty, and the author of three novels: “The Portrait,” “Risk Factor,” and “The Cadaver’s Ball.” His next novel, “The Prodigy,” will be released this winter and his first nonfiction work, “The Bipolar Disorder Answer Book,” will be out this fall. He can be reached through his Web site, www.charlesatkins.com, or via editor@physicianspractice.com.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Physicians Practice.