Teaching Spiritual and Religious Competencies to Psychiatry Residents: A Scoping and Systematic Review

Medical Students' Reflections on Their Experiences in a Trauma Chaplain Shadowing Program

The importance of spirituality in patient care is well recognized and efforts to develop educational opportunities to improve medical students' competency in spirituality and health are ongoing. In this regard, shadowing of healthcare chaplains has emerged as an experiential approach for providing exposure to and instruction in issues of spirituality in the patient experience and in patient care. Recently published data suggest that a 6-8 hour experience of shadowing a trauma chaplain is effective at introducing first-year medical students to healthcare chaplaincy, difficult spiritual conversations with patients and families, and interprofessional collaboration. As a follow-up to these data, this study provides a qualitative analysis of student reflections written immediately after their shadowing experience with the goal of further characterizing the educational impact of trauma chaplain shadowing. Qualitative analysis of 90 anonymous, student reflections indicated that trauma chaplain shadowing was an experience that provided insights about nature of chaplaincy, enabled opportunities to closely observe the relational skills of chaplains, allowed students to bear witness to suffering, fostered growth toward a professional identity, and facilitated recognition of shortcomings in medical education and clinical medicine. These data therefore provide further evidence of the value of chaplain shadowing in not only enhancing students' understanding of various dimensions of spirituality and medicine but also in promoting their development of a strong physician identity.

Spirituality and Religion in Canadian Psychiatric Residency Training: Follow-up Survey of Canadian Psychiatry Residency Programs

OBJECTIVE

This study assesses the availability and nature of psychiatry resident training in religion and spirituality across Canada. Evidence shows that religious and spiritual topics are important to psychiatric patients and that psychiatrist competence in approaching these topics is correlated to whether they have had previous training in them. Prior studies have shown a lack of training in religion and spirituality in Canadian psychiatry programs and recommended incorporation into psychiatry residency curricula.

METHOD

A survey was conducted, asking questions about the amount and type of training in religion and spirituality that was accessible to psychiatry residents in the 17 psychiatry residency programs in Canada. One response was sought from each institution by reaching out to the institutions' program directors and requesting that a knowledgeable faculty member complete the survey.

RESULTS

Out of 14 responding psychiatric residency programs, 2 reported no training opportunities in religion or spirituality, 4 reported only voluntary training opportunities that were largely resident directed, and 8 reported mandatory training.

CONCLUSIONS

The number of Canadian psychiatry residency programs providing mandatory training in religion and spirituality has increased since the prior published survey in 2003 and there are fewer programs reporting no training at all. However, overall, Canadian psychiatry institutions still place less emphasis on religious/spiritual education than recommended by the international psychiatric community. Several Canadian institutions report well-received implementation of curricula on religion and spirituality that could inform other Canadian institutions.