Miracles
Presenters: Mona Raed, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Department of Palliative Care at Community Health Network, Co-Director Religion and Spirituality in Medicine Scholarly Concentration at IUSOM; Candy Gunther Brown, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University (Bloomington); Joshua W. Brown, PhD, Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University (Bloomington) and Director, Global Medical Research Institute; and Asma Mobin-Uddin, MD, MA, Assistant Professor, Division of Bioethics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine; Director, Clinical Bioethics Consultation Service, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The Ohio State University Center for Bioethics; Clinical Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Through the halls of hospitals, there are whispers, prayers, cries, laughter and extraordinary moments. In healthcare we have the honor of bearing witness to these moments. Moments in which science and spirituality interface in seemingly inexplicable ways. Pondering the question of miracles and where they intersect in the daily work of medicine and science surfaces in many ways. Is it solely in the setting of a pancreatic tumor that disappears without chemotherapy, a patient deemed to be in a persistent vegetative state, that begins to track and rehabilitates back to independence, the child’s brain tumor that was prayed over and disappears? Are miracles defined solely as surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency. OR is it in the still moments of silence at the bedside, words said perfectly and disease described with compassion. Is it in a hug and thank you at the end of life, the prayer of a parent, the mundane of an intubation gone right, a code that yields resurrection of life? How do you define a miracle? Where do they intersect as inexplicable moments within the walls of our healthcare system? Can science and faith agree on miracles and create cohesion in their varying perspectives? Can the two cultures of healthcare and faith intersect? Is it okay for healthcare and miracles to NOT agree and still move forward? How do we navigate guilt that arises in the hearts of patients and families when a miracle does not happen? We probe these questions during this plenary in order to provoke thought and introspection in our daily work.