A Theology of Narrative Medicine: The Power of Story in Bridging Clinical Practice and Christian Faith
Jesse McCurdy, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI.
Student Essay - First Runner-up
When a Christian physician considers how to live out their faith in a healthcare context, ostensibly sufficient answers abound: A physician can pray with their patients. A physician can use medicine as a means to sharing the Gospel and converting patients. A physician can emulate Jesus as Healer. A physician can care for the physical body in hopes of ultimate restoration of the soul. While these solutions are not monolithic in value, they are problematic in certain regards. Some are trivial or trite. Some are questionable in theology. And some are simply unethical.
Thus, serious contemplation about this intersection of medicine and Christian witness reveals that bridging faith and clinical practice can be quite difficult. There is a need for exploring how providers can emulate the person of Jesus in the clinic through theologically rich yet practical action. In this paper, I propose that narrative functions as a viable bridge between a physician’s faith and clinical practice. More specifically, the power of story simultaneously benefits both theology and medicine in similar ways, engendering a synergistic connection between the two.
In Part I, I explore the role of story in narrative medicine and postliberal (narrative) theology. In the past several decades, both fields emerged to counteract the fragmented, inhumane natures of healthcare and theology by pointing to the restorative possibilities of narrative. In this paper, I explore three of these possibilities in the contexts of clinical and ecclesial settings. First, narrative restores human beings to wholeness. In narrative medicine, story (of patients and providers) protects against body-mind dualities that pervade Western paradigms of health. In postliberal theology, biblical story functions to bridge the head-heart dichotomy that stunts fruitful living. Second, narrative brings people together. Scholars in both narrative medicine (e.g., Rita Charon) and postliberal theology (e.g., Stanley Hauerwas) argue that “inhabiting the storied world of the other” unifies those in the clinic or church. Finally, narrative elevates voices of the oppressed and marginalized. Whether elevating the stories of minority women in the clinic, or the exegetical approaches of international congregations, narrative as a whole offers “equal access to the storytelling position.” To summarize, Part I delineates how story benefits both medicine and theology in similar manners — thus functioning as a bridge for clinical practice and personal faith.
Part II of this paper contextualizes the theory of Part I to on-the-grounds clinical settings, as it presents thematic analysis of interviews and narrative medicine writings by primary care providers in Kent County, Michigan. For example, restoration of wholeness (discussed above) entails story’s ability to prevent mind-body and head-heart dissociations within clinical and ecclesial settings, respectively. However, how can these two dualities be reimagined within a single lifestyle? How can story shape a person to simultaneously embody mind, body, head, and heart together? One possible answer to this question surfaced in multiple interviews with candidates: a physician who dwells in the storied world of the Bible (especially the Gospels) ultimately honors the holistic dignity of the patient in the clinic. In this way, the narrativistic patterns of Scripture allow one to pragmatically live out their faith (negating head-heart dissociation) in a way that recognizes the full humanity of the patient (negating body-mind dissociation). Story bridges the two fields.
In the end, I intend to demonstrate how narrative simultaneously bolsters one’s clinical practice and faith. These two spheres cannot remain separated, but rather must be combined together in a manner concordant with healthcare guidelines and Christian witness. The intersection between narrative medicine and Christian theology analyzed in this paper has little to no prior research, thus filling a gap in previous literature. Moreover, specific to this conference, this paper represents a micro-level example of an overarching theme: strengthening the bond between healthcare systems and religious communities to encourage hope and healing for all.
Thus, serious contemplation about this intersection of medicine and Christian witness reveals that bridging faith and clinical practice can be quite difficult. There is a need for exploring how providers can emulate the person of Jesus in the clinic through theologically rich yet practical action. In this paper, I propose that narrative functions as a viable bridge between a physician’s faith and clinical practice. More specifically, the power of story simultaneously benefits both theology and medicine in similar ways, engendering a synergistic connection between the two.
In Part I, I explore the role of story in narrative medicine and postliberal (narrative) theology. In the past several decades, both fields emerged to counteract the fragmented, inhumane natures of healthcare and theology by pointing to the restorative possibilities of narrative. In this paper, I explore three of these possibilities in the contexts of clinical and ecclesial settings. First, narrative restores human beings to wholeness. In narrative medicine, story (of patients and providers) protects against body-mind dualities that pervade Western paradigms of health. In postliberal theology, biblical story functions to bridge the head-heart dichotomy that stunts fruitful living. Second, narrative brings people together. Scholars in both narrative medicine (e.g., Rita Charon) and postliberal theology (e.g., Stanley Hauerwas) argue that “inhabiting the storied world of the other” unifies those in the clinic or church. Finally, narrative elevates voices of the oppressed and marginalized. Whether elevating the stories of minority women in the clinic, or the exegetical approaches of international congregations, narrative as a whole offers “equal access to the storytelling position.” To summarize, Part I delineates how story benefits both medicine and theology in similar manners — thus functioning as a bridge for clinical practice and personal faith.
Part II of this paper contextualizes the theory of Part I to on-the-grounds clinical settings, as it presents thematic analysis of interviews and narrative medicine writings by primary care providers in Kent County, Michigan. For example, restoration of wholeness (discussed above) entails story’s ability to prevent mind-body and head-heart dissociations within clinical and ecclesial settings, respectively. However, how can these two dualities be reimagined within a single lifestyle? How can story shape a person to simultaneously embody mind, body, head, and heart together? One possible answer to this question surfaced in multiple interviews with candidates: a physician who dwells in the storied world of the Bible (especially the Gospels) ultimately honors the holistic dignity of the patient in the clinic. In this way, the narrativistic patterns of Scripture allow one to pragmatically live out their faith (negating head-heart dissociation) in a way that recognizes the full humanity of the patient (negating body-mind dissociation). Story bridges the two fields.
In the end, I intend to demonstrate how narrative simultaneously bolsters one’s clinical practice and faith. These two spheres cannot remain separated, but rather must be combined together in a manner concordant with healthcare guidelines and Christian witness. The intersection between narrative medicine and Christian theology analyzed in this paper has little to no prior research, thus filling a gap in previous literature. Moreover, specific to this conference, this paper represents a micro-level example of an overarching theme: strengthening the bond between healthcare systems and religious communities to encourage hope and healing for all.