"Mainstreaming Spirituality: The Next Step" was the theme of the Spirituality & Healing in Medicine conference offered in Boston last December. Senior Staff Editor reports on the latest in a series of courses offered for credit by the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education in conjunction with the Mind/Body Medical Institute of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and with financial support from the Templeton Foundation, the conference once again explored the relationship between spirituality and healing in medical practice.
"Let Me Tell You who you are," course director Dr. Herbert Benson said warmly to participants in an address kicking off the conference. He noted that among the more than 600 attendees, 109 were medical doctors, 164 members of the clergy, 94 nurses, and 80 psychologists, in addition to many educators, and others from unlisted professions. Dr. Benson told the audience that the conferences, which began five years ago, have been successful in helping medical personnel reconsider the separation that has historically existed between science and spirituality.
"We are learning to be servers, not fixers," said associate course director Dr. Christina Puchalski in her talk. And the audience listened attentively as other speakers routinely interspersed medical terms with words such as spiritual history, prayer, faith, and belief.
