Article January 1, 2001 Issue

"The future of medicine—and the medicine of the future"

Report on a talk given by Virginia S. Harris

Physicians, health care professionals, and others are giving more and more attention each year to the spiritual dimension in healing. What practical applications spirituality has in the healing process has become a serious topic for research in such fields as biotechnology, genetics, modern surgical practices, and psychological counseling, as well as in the hands-on nursing care provided by so many dedicated women and men, Of the one hundred twenty-five accredited medical schools in the United States, at least sixty-one now offer a course on spirituality in medicine; and as many as forty of those encourage future doctors to put patients' spiritual histories on their medical records.

Issues like these have been fully discussed each time a wide range of people from the fields of science, theology, and medicine have gathered for a symposium on "Spirituality and Healing in Medicine," sponsored by Harvard Medical School and the Mind/Body Medical Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, These symposia have been taking place for several years now.

Course director, Herbert Benson, M.D., said that, as we move into the new millennium, "researchers and medical professionals must begin looking at how [they] can better incorporate the spiritual element into [their] patients' care."

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