ArticleJournal of medical education and curricular development
Demonstrating the Viability of Spiritual Care Education: A Pilot Study on Integrating Spirituality and Health into Medical Education.
Article in Journal of medical education and curricular development. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Integrating Spiritual Care Teaching Within the Australian Medical Curriculum.The clinical teacher · 2026Article
- Expanding the Communication Skills Toolbox: The Addition of Spiritual Care to the Medical Student Repertoire.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Despite the recognized significance of integrating spiritual care into healthcare, training in spiritual care is often an elective rather than a core component of medical education in the United States, suggesting a gap in the comprehensive training of future healthcare professionals. Methods: An elective course was developed to explore the interplay between religion, spirituality, and medicine and was administered over 2 academic semesters. The curriculum included lectures, interactive sessions with religious leaders, and class discussions aimed at enhancing understanding and implementation of spiritual care. Course efficacy was evaluated using pre- and postcourse assessments quantifying student aptitudes and attitudes toward spiritual care. The second semester also included a comparison group that was not enrolled in the course, matched to the enrolled students on the basis of age, gender, and religiosity. Results: A total of 19 medical students voluntarily participated over 2 semesters. Semester 1 students demonstrated modest nonsignificant increases in attitudes toward spiritual care. Semester 2 students exhibited increased interest, understanding, and perceived ability to provide spiritual care. Furthermore, semester 2 aptitude scores increased from 51% to 78%, demonstrating significantly improved ability to navigate spiritual care case scenarios. While students enrolled in the course had improved postcourse survey scores, the comparison group of students that did not enrol in the course had no change in their pre and postcourse surveys. Conclusions: This elective course successfully addressed a gap in medical education by improving student aptitudes and attitudes toward spiritual care. The course model offers a framework for other medical schools aiming to enhance spiritual care training, underscoring the need for medical curricula to prepare well-rounded healthcare professionals capable of providing holistic patient care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.