Elizabeth Fleming, MD

Learn more about Dr. Fleming’s work with UW Health »

Education

• Medical College of Wisconsin – MD
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health – Verona Clinic Family Medicine Residency
• Columbia University – Certification of Professional Achievement in Narrative Medicine

Bio

Elizabeth A. Fleming, MD (she/her/hers) came to medicine through the intersection of science and humanities, serving as the foundation of her career. Her academic work is centered around narrative medicine, patient-physician relationships, and clinician wellness with a particular focus on how narratives with the medical record impact patient care and supporting identity formation among medical trainees.

Fleming is a founding member on the board of directors for the Collective for Humanism, Arts, and Storytelling in Medicine (CHASM) and developed the Midwest Physician Writers Retreat, a medical conference for creative writing.

She is honored to have received the Dr. Lester Brillman Mentorship in Family Medicine award and to have been chosen by medical students for the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award, as a faculty speaker at Match Day, and as a faculty hooder for the Doctor of Medicine Graduate Recognition Ceremony in 2025.

Fleming’s creative writing has been published in Family Medicine and JAMA.

Clinical Interests

As a family physician, Fleming enjoys caring for patients through all phases of life with a focus on times of transition including young families and elder adults.

Teaching Interests

In addition to working with students in clinic, Fleming serves as a longitudinal teacher coach at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and as mentorship and advisement co-director at DFMCH. She developed the course “Narrative Medicine, Storytelling, and Public Health,” and has taught the electives “The Healer’s Art,” “Introduction to Medical Humanities,” and “Narrative Medicine and Public Health.” Her focus has been using medical humanities and narrative medicine methods to support self-reflection, wellness, and identity formation among medical trainees.

Research Interests

Fleming’s research focuses on the patient-physician relationship, narrative medicine, and identify formation among medical trainees. She is interested in better understanding how narratives within the medical record impact the patient-physician relationship as it relates to bias and establishing care. Fleming’s educational research focuses on understanding how self-reflection and community-building using reflective writing, medical humanities, and narrative medicine methods impacts the way trainees develop their professional identities as developing physicians.

Publications and Presentations

• https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2923-1002
• Fleming EA. Notes on healing after a missed diagnosis. JAMA. 2022;328(13):1297-1298.
• Fleming EA, Bettendorf BA. Gaudeamus Igitur at 40 – A Tribute and Assessment. JAMA. 2023;329(24):2111–2113.
• Fleming EA. Still life: coming home in 55 words. Family Medicine. 2023;55(10):684-684.
• Barbour SG, Fleming EA. Using the electronic health record to facilitate patient-physician relationship while establishing care. Ann Fam Med. 2024;22(5):457.
• Fleming EA. Cultivating curiosity: using narrative medicine to become a ‘good doctor’. Presented at: Class of 1956 Medical Humanities Lecture; 2024.

Honors and Awards

• 2025 Lester Brillman Mentorship in Family Medicine Award – University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
• 2024 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award – Gold Humanism Honor Society
• 2024 First Place Winner for “Still Life: Coming Home in 55 Words” – Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Poetry & Prose Contest