Miracles in medicine: A narrative inquiry exploring extraordinary events in pediatrics

Whether miracles are seen as a source of conflict between healthcare teams and families, a foolish or even harmful belief, or a hindrance to system-wide improvements and scientific inquiry, miracles within medicine have long been questioned. We were interested in the perspectives of pediatricians on miracles and how that has informed their care of patients. We also sought to explore the intersection and relationship between the medical sciences, faith, and how we view miracles.

Using narrative inquiry as a research methodology, we had conversations and explored the experiences of physicians who work directly within pediatric clinical care. We used purposeful sampling by emailing several pediatricians whom we felt might have been interested in the project and may have had experiences with perceived medical miracles. All conversations were conducted over Zoom and recorded.

We conducted one to three conversations with each participant. During our analysis, we identified two threads. First, participants described miracles mostly as favorable and fortuitous events that invoked a sense of wonder due to contextual factors such as geography, access to resources, time in history but also previous experiences and the expectations of the clinician. Second, there is a complex dynamic within and between the medical sciences and the faith commitments of clinicians and families, especially when facing life-limiting or end-of-life illness.

The stories that our participants told not only informed their past experiences and how they remembered them but also their present and future experiences. Exploring the topic of medical miracles allowed us to better understand the social discourses that shape our perceptions of miracles, death, and the role of the physician. These stories offer us hope and possibility in a time when we as a medical community may have lost our sense of wonder and the ability to notice miracles.