Dr. A. Missagh Ghadirian —\u00a0McGill Courses<\/p>\n
Dr. Ghadirian is presently teaching a course in Spirituality and Ethics in Medicine at McGill University, Faculty of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Spirituality and Ethics in Medicine: a new approach to compassionate care<\/strong><\/p>\n OVERVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n Compassionate care of the sick and suffering is an important part of the physician-patient relationship.\u00a0 In our multicultural society where diversity of religious traditions is common, many patients\u2019 attitudes toward physicians and treatment are influenced by their personal and religious beliefs.\u00a0 They expect to be understood not only with respect to their illness but also with respect to their spiritual and cultural values on health and healing.<\/p>\n The study of the role of spirituality in medicine has been rapidly expanding in the majority of North American faculties of medicine.\u00a0 At the McGill Faculty of Medicine this course has been conducted since 2002.\u00a0 Students who have participated in this elective course found it enriching and very informative as they hadn\u2019t had an opportunity to study in depth this aspect of medicine during medical school.\u00a0 Students who had no religious affiliation or were secular or atheist also found the course helpful in order to have a better understanding of the concept of spirituality in relation to compassionate care.\u00a0 Some said that they learned how to relate to patients who will come to them with diverse religious beliefs and spiritual concerns. What many of these students are interested to know is the contribution of religions to the progress of medicine in history.<\/p>\n Participants in this course are 4th<\/sup> year medical students, approaching the final stage of their undergraduate medical education. \u00a0The students who select this course are eager to explore and understand the relevance of the relationship between medical science and spirituality.\u00a0 Will cultural and spiritual beliefs and practices enhance recovery from illness or will they impede the healing process?\u00a0 How can one relate to patients of different faiths who come to physicians with a number of religious\/spiritual needs and expectations? How to take spiritual history during patient evaluation? Do certain religious tradition conflict with medical ethics? These are some of the issues which are explored and discussed.<\/p>\n The program of this selective course is highly interactive.\u00a0 Besides presentation by guest speakers and the course director, at each session two or more students make a presentation on a topic they choose related to the main theme of the course, followed by group discussion which is \u00a0very interesting.\u00a0 There are also video presentations, analysis and discussion as well as case studies.\u00a0 Students are also expected to do research in the literature and to write a short essay on a chosen topic related to the role of spirituality and ethics in medicine.<\/p>\n Suggested literature\u00a0on\u00a0Spirituality and Medicine<\/strong><\/p>\n Available online:<\/strong><\/p>\n Astrow, A.B., Sulmasy, D.P.:\u00a0 Spirituality and the Patient-Physician Relationship JAMA. 291:2884, 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n Breitbart, W. et al. “Depression, hopelessness, and desire for death in terminally ill patients with cancer”, JAMA 2000; 284 pp. 2907-2911.<\/span><\/p>\n Breitbart, W. et al. “Reframing hope: meaning-centered care for patients near the end of life”, J. Pall. Med. 2003; 6(6). pp. 979-988.<\/span><\/p>\n Chibnall, J.T., Duckro, P.N. Does exposure to issues of spirituality predict medical students’ attitudes towards spirituality in medicine? Academic Medicine. 7:6:661, June 2000. Assn of American Medical Colleges, US.<\/span><\/p>\n Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. If We Are So Rich, Why Aren’t We Happy? American Psychologist. Vol. 54 (10) October 1999, pp. 821-827.<\/span><\/p>\n Daalman, T.P., VandeCreek L.: Placing religion and spirituality in end-of-life care. JAMA, 284: 19:2514-2517, Nov. 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n Flannelly, K. et al. “A systematic review of religion and spirituality in three palliative care journals, 1990-1999”, J. Pall. Care. 2004; 20(1) p. 50-56.<\/span><\/p>\n Fortin, A.H., Barnett K.G., Medical School Curricula in Spirituality and Medicine. JAMA.291: 2883, 2004.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Fosarelli, P. (2008). Medicine, spirituality and patient care. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association. 300(7) 836-838.<\/span><\/p>\n Ghadirian, A-M.: Is spirituality relevant to the practice of medicine? J. Medicine and Law. (27) 229-239, 2008 (available only in web curriculum)\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Ghadirian, A-M.: Alzheimer’s Disease: An Eclipse before Sunset (2016).\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Ghadirian, A-M.:\u00a0 Materialism: Moral and Social Consequences, 2nd edition, Oxford: George Ronald, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n