Spirituality and health in the curricula of medical schools in Brazil

BMC Medical Education

Research Article

Harold G Koenig¹  José Roberto Leite²  Alessandra Lamas Granero Lucchetti³  Daniele Corcioli Mendes Espinha³  Leandro Romani de Oliveira⁴  Giancarlo Lucchetti⁵ 

[1] Duke University Medical Center, Durham, USA;King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;São Paulo Medical Spiritist Association, Av. Juriti, 367 apto 131 – Moema, CEP: 04520-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil;São Paulo Medical Spiritist Association, Av. Juriti, 367 apto 131 – Moema, CEP: 04520-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil;Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;São Paulo Medical Spiritist Association, Av. Juriti, 367 apto 131 – Moema, CEP: 04520-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil;Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;João Evangelista Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil;

关键词: Spirituality;    Religion;    Medical education;    Medical schools;    Medical students;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6920-12-78

 received in 2012-03-23, accepted in 2012-08-15,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAccording to recent surveys, 59% of British medical schools and 90% of US medical schools have courses or content on spirituality and health (S/H). There is little research, however, on the teaching of S/H in medical schools in other countries, such as those in Latin America, Asia, Australia and Africa. The present study seeks to investigate the current status of teaching on S/H in Brazilian medical schools.MethodsAll medical schools in Brazil (private and public) were selected for evaluation, were contacted by email and phone, and were administered a questionnaire. The questionnaire, sent by e-mail, asked medical school directors/deans about any S/H courses that were taught, details about those courses, S/H lectures or seminars, importance of teaching this subject for medical school directors, and medical schools characteristics.ResultsA total of 86 out of 180 (47.7%) medical schools responded. Results indicated that 10.4% of Brazilian Medical Schools have a dedicated S/H courses and 40.5% have courses or content on spirituality and health. Only two medical schools have S/H courses that involve hands-on training and three schools have S/H courses that teach how to conduct a spiritual history. The majority of medical directors (54%) believe that S/H is important to teach in their schools.ConclusionFew Brazilian medical schools have courses dealing specifically with S/H and less than half provide some form of teaching on the subject. Unfortunately, there is no standard curriculum on S/H. Nevertheless, the majority of medical directors believe this issue is an important subject that should be taught.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Lucchetti et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012