Table 4 Physicians’ beliefs about the outcomes of narrative medicine

Consensus that narrative medicine is emotionally positive for physicians

“So I think it always benefits me to hear anyone’s life story even if, I mean even on a personal level if I’m not taking care of the patient, it’s always enriching to learn about what someone else's been through.” (Pediatrician)

"I take a lot of like pleasure in getting to know patients over a long period of time…their perspective on the lives…has benefited me just to think about that in the context of my life for my family members lives, that's sort of thing. Sort of gives me a sense of appreciation I guess, gratitude for life." (Surgeon)

Consensus that narrative medicine benefits the doctor-patient relationship along multiple spectrums

“I know things about my patients that have nothing to do with their care and that just makes me feel like there's a real connection, and it's just humanizing all around. So I think that this is a really important part of how you really develop that trust because you also value their story right?” (Internist)

"… [the patient’s narrative] helps me I guess [be] a little bit more…sensitive to her anxiety about an upcoming operation beyond the usual anxiety that…a patient has" (Surgeon)

Consensus that narrative medicine aides in decision-making

“…if somebody grew up in an environment where they were always told that western medicine is bad…A medication…that I prescribed for their child…I might prescribe it and talk about it and they might nod, say sure and go home and not use it. It would be much better for me to know their attitude about it coming in. It’s just gonna affect how I handle it, my decision-making” (Pediatrician)

“I mean I always think that you need to know a lot about somebody to try to figure out how to help treat them…Like knowing all sorts of details about how they approach life and how they approach medicine…does affect treatment plans so you have to kind of take all of that into account.” (Internist)

Consensus that narrative medicine can be emotionally negative for physicians

“There’s a lot of bad life stories out there that are hard, so it makes you feel bad, but uh…usually I’d rather know them than not know them, but yeah it’s more emotionally draining.” (Internist)

“Definitely hearing about trauma that patients have experienced has affected me emotionally and I kind of carry it with me throughout the rest of the day or the rest of the week, or forever, sometimes just thinking about it” (Pediatrician)

Consensus that there are logistical and data-driven drawbacks to narrative medicine

“I mean the biggest drawback is time right? We would all love to spend an hour talking to every single patient because people are fascinating and people do have very interesting life stories” (Surgeon)

“Well sometimes you can over interpret something, you can go to the other extreme, you know, you think you know a person well and…sometimes you just take a shortcut and assume they’re either doing this is because of what happened back then, but if you don't clarify it with them you might misinterpret it or over interpret something” (Pediatrician)