Spirituality in Medical School Curricula: Findings from a National Survey
Abstract
Objective: No systematic information exists on what U.S. medical schools are teaching on spirituality and health or on the attitudes of faculty toward inclusion of this subject in the medical curriculum. We systematically surveyed U.S. medical school deans and assessed both attitudes about and the extent to which spirituality is addressed in medical school curricula. Methods: The responses to a questionnaire were solicited from deans representing 122 U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education. Completed surveys were received from 85% ( n = 104), with 94% ( n = 115) responding to the primary question. Outcomes were proportion of medical schools with curricular content on spirituality and attitudes of deans toward such material. Results: Ninety percent (range 84%–90%) of medical schools have courses or content on spirituality and health (S&H), 73% with content in required courses addressing other topics and 7% with a required course dedicated to S&H. Although over 90% indicate that patients emphasize spirituality in their coping and health care, only 39% say that including S&H is important. When asked if their institution needs more S&H curricular content, 43% indicated they did; however, even if funding and training support were available, only 25% would open additional curricular time. National policy statements, established competencies, or methods to evaluate student competencies in S&H were generally considered unimportant. Conclusions: Most U.S. medical schools have curricular content on S&H, although this varies greatly in scope. Despite acknowledging its importance to patients, the majority of deans are uncertain about including spirituality and do not think more content is needed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
R/S beliefs influence medical decisions among those with serious medical illness and especially among those with advanced cancer or HIV/AIDS.
“Studies have shown that R/S beliefs influence medical decisions among those with serious medical illness [584, 585] and especially among those with advanced cancer [586] or HIV/AIDs [587].”
From Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications (2012) · cites this paper as [586]
Cites
Handbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2004) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00019442-200405000-00015 · Cited by 3,262 · see citing works
Self-citationHandbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H., McCullough, M., & Larson, D. (2001) · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195118667.001.0001 · Cited by 2,581 · see citing works
Self-citationBalboni, T. A., Vanderwerker, L. C., Block, S. D., Paulk, M. E., Lathan, C. S., Peteet, J. R., & Prigerson, H. G. (2007) · Journal of Clinical Oncology · doi:10.1200/jco.2006.07.9046 · Cited by 959 · see citing works
Religion, spirituality, and medicine
Sloan, R., Bagiella, E., & Powell, T. P. (1999) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(98)07376-0 · Cited by 851 · see citing works
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
M.Mullner, R. (2009) · Encyclopedia of Health Services Research · doi:10.4135/9781412971942.n39 · Cited by 476 · see citing works
Phelps, A. C. (2009) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2009.341 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices
Curlin, F. A., Lawrence, R. E., Chin, M. H., & Lantos, J. D. (2007) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmsa065316 · Cited by 397 · see citing works
Should Physicians Prescribe Religious Activities?
Sloan, R. P., Bagiella, E., VandeCreek, L., Hover, M., Casalone, C., Hirsch, T. J., Hasan, Y., Kreger, R., & Poulos, P. (2000) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm200006223422513 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Importance of Faith on Medical Decisions Regarding Cancer Care
Silvestri, G. A., Knittig, S., Zoller, J. S., & Nietert, P. J. (2003) · Journal of Clinical Oncology · doi:10.1200/jco.2003.08.036 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Primary Care Physician Preferences Regarding Spiritual Behavior in Medical Practice
Monroe, M. H., Bynum, D., Susi, B., Phifer, N., Schultz, L., Franco, M., MacLean, C. D., Cykert, S., & Garrett, J. M. (2003) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.163.22.2751 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Medical School Curricula in Spirituality and Medicine
Fortin, A., & Barnett, K. (2004) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.291.23.2883 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Spirituality and Medicine: Curricula in Medical Education
Puchalski, C. M. (2006) · Journal of Cancer Education · doi:10.1207/s15430154jce2101_6 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Current status of teaching on spirituality in UK medical schools
Neely, D., & Minford, E. J. (2008) · Medical Education · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2007.02980.x · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications
Koenig, H. G. (2012) · ISRN Psychiatry · doi:10.5402/2012/278730 · Cited by 2,423 · see citing works
“Today, nearly 90% of medical schools (and many nursing schools) in the US include something about R/S in their curricula [596] and this is also true to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom [597] and Brazil [598].”
BackgroundSelf-citationHandbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Peteet, J. R. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190088859.001.0001 · Cited by 1,150 · see citing works
Self-citationSpirituality in Serious Illness and Health
Balboni, T. A., VanderWeele, T. J., Doan, S., Long, K. N. G., FERRELL, B. R., Fitchett, G. A., Koenig, H. G., Bain, P. A., Puchalski, C. M., Steinhauser, K. E., et al. (2022) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2022.11086 · Cited by 579 · see citing works
Self-citationNurse and Physician Barriers to Spiritual Care Provision at the End of Life
Balboni, M. J., Sullivan, A., Enzinger, A. C., Epstein-Peterson, Z. D., Tseng, Y. D., MITCHELL, C. M., Niska, J. R., Zollfrank, A. A., VanderWeele, T. J., & Balboni, T. A. (2014) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.09.020 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
“#9 I am worried that the power inequity between patient and (nurse/doctor) makes spiritual care inappropriate 27 (24) 84 (43) <0.”
BackgroundSpiritual and religious competencies for psychologists.
Vieten, C., Scammell, S., Pilato, R., Ammondson, I., Pargäment, K. I., & Lukoff, D. G. (2013) · Psychology of Religion and Spirituality · doi:10.1037/a0032699 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Balboni, T., Fitchett, G., Handzo, G., Johnson, K. S., Koenig, H., Pargament, K., Puchalski, C., Sinclair, S., Taylor, E., & Steinhauser, K. (2017) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.07.029 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Self-citationChakraborty, R., El-Jawahri, A. R., Litzow, M. R., Syrjala, K. L., Parnes, A. D., & Hashmi, S. K. (2017) · Palliative & Supportive Care · doi:10.1017/s1478951516001061 · Cited by 174 · see citing works
“The important barriers to provision of R/S care by HCPs include inadequate training and a perception of R/S care as being outside the scope of clinical practice (Koenig et al., 2010).”
BackgroundSpiritual and religious competencies in psychology.
Vieten, C., & Lukoff, D. G. (2021) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/amp0000821 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Competencies for psychologists in the domains of religion and spirituality.
Vieten, C., Scammell, S., Pierce, A., Pilato, R., Ammondson, I., Pargäment, K. I., & Lukoff, D. G. (2016) · Spirituality in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1037/scp0000078 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Medical students, spirituality and religiosity-results from the multicenter study SBRAME
Collaborators, F. T. S., Lucchetti, G., de Oliveira, L. R., Koenig, H. G., Leite, J. R., & Lucchetti, A. L. (2013) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/1472-6920-13-162 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
“; licensee BioMed Centr Commons Attribution License (http://creativec reproduction in any medium, provided the or the inclusion of S/R would take the place of other important topics [8,9].”
BackgroundReligion and health: A synthesis.
VanderWeele, T. J. (2017) · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Spirituality and health in the curricula of medical schools in Brazil
Lucchetti, G., Lucchetti, A. L. G., Espinha, D. C. M., de Oliveira, L. R., Leite, J. R., & Koenig, H. G. (2012) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/1472-6920-12-78 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
“These results are even more positive than those from a study of US medical school deans [12], of whom less than 40% felt that introducing S/H contents into the curriculum was important and only 10% indicated their faculty valued S/H content as “very valuable.”
BackgroundResultSelf-citationLucchese, F. A., & Koenig, H. G. (2013) · Brazilian Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery · doi:10.5935/1678-9741.20130015 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
“that found that 7% of the 115 schools that responded had a dedicated required course on R/S and health, and 34% said they offered an elective course dedicated to R/S and health [259].”
Self-citationSpirituality As A Determinant Of Health: Emerging Policies, Practices, And Systems
Long, K. N. G., Symons, X., VanderWeele, T. J., Balboni, T. A., Rosmarin, D. H., Puchalski, C. M., Cutts, T. F., Gunderson, G. R., Idler, E. L., Oman, D., et al. (2024) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2023.01643 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Religion, Spirituality, and the Hidden Curriculum: Medical Student and Faculty Reflections
Balboni, M. J., Bandini, J. I., MITCHELL, C. M., Epstein-Peterson, Z. D., Amobi, A., Cahill, J. F. X., Enzinger, A. C., Peteet, J. R., & Balboni, T. A. (2015) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.04.020 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Spirituality and mental health
Kao, L., Peteet, J., & Cook, C. C. H. (2019) · Journal for the Study of Spirituality · doi:10.1080/20440243.2020.1726048 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Incorporating Spirituality in Primary Care
Isaac, K. S., Hay, J. L., & Lubetkin, E. I. (2016) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0190-2 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“…interest in this area is evidenced by an increase in its scholarly activity as well as in the number of medical school programs that now offer courses on religion and spirituality (Lucchetti and Lucchetti 2014; Williams et al. 2011; Koenig et al. 2010; Puchalski 2001; Puchalski et al. 2001).”
BackgroundTeaching nursing students about spiritual care – A review of the literature
Timmins, F., & Neill, F. (2013) · Nurse Education in Practice · doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2013.01.011 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Spirituality and Health Education: A National Survey of Academic Leaders UK
Culatto, A., & Summerton, C. B. (2014) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-014-9974-4 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Teaching Health Care Providers To Provide Spiritual Care: A Pilot Study
Zollfrank, A. A., Trevino, K., Cadge, W., Balboni, M., Thiel, M., Fitchett, G., Gallivan, K., VanderWeele, T., & Balboni, T. (2015) · Journal of Palliative Medicine · doi:10.1089/jpm.2014.0306 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Espiritualidade e religiosidade: saberes de estudantes de medicina
Costa, M. S., Dantas, R. T., Alves, C. G. D. S., Ferreira, E. R., & da Silva, A. F. (2019) · Revista Bioética · doi:10.1590/1983-80422019272319 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Toward a Fully Fledged Integration of Spiritual Care and Medical Care
Kruizinga, R., Scherer‐Rath, M., Schilderman, H., Puchalski, C. M., & van Laarhoven, H. W. M. (2017) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.11.015 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“Also, conv incing deans of medical schools to include spirituality in the medical curriculum is still fou nd to be a challenge (81).”
Banin, L. B., Suzart, N. B., Guimarães, F. A. G., Lucchetti, A. L. G., de Jesus, M. A. S., & Lucchetti, G. (2013) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-013-9685-2 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
“It is interesting to note that most physicians believe this issue is important (Berg et al. 2011; Mariotti et al. 2011; Monroe et al. 2003) and even medical school directors consider this issue important to medical graduation (Koenig et al. 2010; Lucchetti et al. 2012).”
BackgroundNovel online training program improves spiritual competencies in mental health care.
Pearce, M., Pargäment, K. I., Oxhandler, H. K., Vieten, C., & Wong, S. (2019) · Spirituality in Clinical Practice · doi:10.1037/scp0000208 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Krägeloh, C. U., Henning, M. A., Billington, R., & Hawken, S. J. (2014) · Academic Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s40596-014-0158-z · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Talley, J. A., & Magie, R. (2013) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000078 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Hsieh, S., Hsu, L., Kao, C., Breckenridge‐Sproat, S. T., Lin, H., Tai, H., Huang, T., & Chu, T. (2019) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/jocn.15141 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Osório, I. H. S., Gonçalves, L. M., Pozzobon, P. M., Gaspar Júnior, J. J., Miranda, F. M., Lucchetti, A. L. G., & Lucchetti, G. (2017) · Medical Teacher · doi:10.1080/0142159x.2017.1337878 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“The current panorama of its incorporation in the medical curriculum finds 90% of American medical schools (Koenig et al. 2010), 59% of British schools (Neely and Minford 2008), and 50% of Brazilian schools (Lucchetti, Lucchetti, Espinha et al. 2012) with content related to the subject.”
BackgroundSpirituality in the Undergraduate Curricula of Nursing Schools in Portugal and São Paulo-Brazil
Caldeira, S., Figueiredo, A., da Conceição, A. P., Ermel, C., Mendes, J., Chaves, É. D. C. L., de Carvalho, E. D., & Vieira, M. (2016) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel7110134 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Religiosidade e espiritualidade em oncologia: concepções de profissionais da saúde
Gobatto, C. A., & de Araújo, T. C. C. F. (2013) · Psicologia USP · doi:10.1590/s0103-65642013000100002 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
The Catalogue of Spiritual Care Instruments: A Scoping Review
Nissen, R. D., Falkø, E., Viftrup, D. T., Hvidt, E. A., Søndergaard, J., Büssing, A., Wallin, J. A., & Hvidt, N. C. (2020) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel11050252 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“An effect of this is that today more than 90% of medical schools include courses or content on spirituality and health, 70% with spirituality content in required courses (Koenig et al. 2010), which presumably has led to an increased focus in clinical practice.”
BackgroundA Survey on the Integration of Spiritual Care in Medical Schools from the German-Speaking Faculties
Taverna, M., Berberat, P. O., Sattel, H. C., & Frick, E. (2019) · Advances in Medical Education and Practice · doi:10.2147/amep.s224679 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“3%, comparable to previous surveys in other regions.(13,17,19,28) The”
ResultHemming, P., Teague, P. J., Crowe, T. Y., & Levine, R. B. (2015) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-015-0158-7 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“Medical schools, and to a lesser degree, residencies are adding training on spirituality to the formal curriculum (Fortin and Barnett 2004; King and Crisp 2005; Koenig et al. 2010); however, these curricula do not generally use experiential learning in the context of direct patient care.”
BackgroundVanderWeele, T. J., Balboni, T. A., & Koh, H. K. (2021) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwab134 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“Although many medical schools now offer electives in spiritual care (42), this is not likely sufficient because few participate.”
Assessing spirituality: is there a beneficial role in the management of COPD?
Gergianaki, I., Kampouraki, M., Williams, S., & Tsiligianni, I. (2019) · npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41533-019-0134-x · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Anandarajah, G., Roseman, J., Lee, D.-Y., & Dhandhania, N. (2016) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.06.006 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Vasconcelos, A. P. L., Lucchetti, A., Cavalcanti, A., Conde, S. R. S. D. S., Gonçalves, L. M., Nascimento, F. R. V. D., Chazan, A. C. S., Tavares, R., Ezequiel, O. D. S., & Lucchetti, G. (2020) · Journal of general internal medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-020-06145-x · Cited by 26 · see citing works
MITCHELL, C. M., Epstein-Peterson, Z. D., Bandini, J. I., Amobi, A., Cahill, J. F. X., Enzinger, A. C., Noveroske, S., Peteet, J. R., Balboni, T. A., & Balboni, M. J. (2016) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.05.018 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“Interaction setting Student focus groups 25 (76) 8 (73) Faculty/staff interview 8 (24) 3 (27) Medical specialty 28 NA Internal medicine 11 (39) Surgical specialties 4 (14) Neurology 3 (11) Psychiatry 2 (7) Pediatrics/pediatric subspecialties 5 (18)”
BackgroundInterconexão entre saúde, espiritualidade e religiosidade
Teixeira, M. Z. (2020) · Revista de Medicina · doi:10.11606/issn.1679-9836.v99i2p134-147 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Hospital chaplains’ communication with patients: Characteristics, functions and potential benefits
Klitzman, R., Garbuzova, E., Natarelli, G. D. S., Sinnappan, S., & Al-Hashimi, J. (2022) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2022.05.004 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Muslim American physicians’ views on brain death: Findings from a national survey
Popal, S., Hall, S. E., & Padela, A. I. (2021) · Avicenna Journal of Medicine · doi:10.4103/ajm.ajm_51_20 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“Certainly, research documents how physicians’ recommendations are influenced by cultural, personal, religious, and sociological factors.[11-15] Hence, some physicians might not equate a “brain dead” individual as death of the person due to their personal, cultural, or religious beliefs and thus recommend continuing li…”
Frequency of Faith and Spirituality Discussion in Health Care
Bergamo, D., & White, D. M. (2015) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-015-0065-y · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Spirituality in Serious Illness
Kestenbaum, A. R., Fitchett, G. A., Galchutt, P. K., Labuschagne, D., Varner-Perez, S. E., Torke, A. M., & Kamal, A. H. (2021) · Journal of Palliative Medicine · doi:10.1089/jpm.2021.0522 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Medical Students’ Experience in a Trauma Chaplain Shadowing Program: A Mixed Method Analysis
Gomez, S., White, B., Browning, J., & DeLisser, H. M. (2020) · Medical Education Online · doi:10.1080/10872981.2019.1710896 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“This is certainly a relevant finding given the overall inadequate training medical students receive in addressing patient spirituality [4,5].”
BackgroundIntegrating religion/spirituality into professional social work practice
Parada, M. L. (2022) · Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work Social Thought · doi:10.1080/15426432.2022.2102102 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“By 2010, a national survey revealed that 73% of medical schools in the U.S. reported to incorporate spirituality into their curricula, though mostly through elective courses (Koenig et al., 2010).”
BackgroundGonçalves, L. M., Osório, I. H. S., Oliveira, L. L., Simonetti, L., dos Reis, E., & Lucchetti, G. (2016) · Journal of religion and health · doi:10.1007/s10943-015-0146-y · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Currently, about 90 % of medical schools in USA (Koenig et al. 2010), 60 % in England (Neely and Minford 2008) and 50 % in Brazil (Lucchetti et al.”
BackgroundInfluentialSmothers, Z., Tu, J., Grochowski, C. O., & Koenig, H. G. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026358 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“R/S in healthcare is a seldom taught subject, and practical applications to patient interactions are a challenging task, especially when considering ethical concerns.(24) 46 47 At baseline, students expressed some uncertainty about the ethical and professional acceptability of R/S in healthcare, demonstrated by mean c…”
InfluentialSelf-citationTeaching spirituality to medical students: a systematic review
Crozier, D., Greene, A., Schleicher, M., & Goldfarb, J. (2021) · Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy · doi:10.1080/08854726.2021.1916332 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Additionally, while the deans of many institutions acknowledge the importance of addressing spirituality with patients, only 25% would increase curricular time to discuss this topic (Koenig et al., 2010).”
BackgroundFerreira, T. T., Borges, M. D. F., Zanetti, G. C., Lemos, G. L., Gotti, E. S., Tomé, J. M., da Silva, A. P., & de Resende, E. A. M. R. (2018) · Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica · doi:10.1590/1981-52712018v42n1rb20160044 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Physicians in the USA: Attendance, Beliefs and Patient Interactions
Franzen, A. B. (2014) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-014-9986-0 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
van Rensburg, B. J., Szabo, C. P., Poggenpoel, M., & Myburgh, C. (2013) · International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine · doi:10.2190/pm.45.2.f · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Atkinson, H. G., Fleenor, D. W., Lerner, S., Poliandro, E., & Truglio, J. (2018) · MedEdPORTAL · doi:10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10784 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Spiritual care training and the GP curriculum: where to now?
Appleby, A., Swinton, J., & Wilson, P. (2019) · Education for Primary Care · doi:10.1080/14739879.2019.1600383 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“At postgraduate level, appeals to reference patients’ spirituality, and to understand the links between spirituality and health, appear in multiple GP and family practice curricula, including American [10], Australian [12] and, more extensively, UK curricula.”
BackgroundThe Role of Religious Culture in Medical Professionalism in a Muslim Arab Society
Tayeb, H. O., Tekian, A. S., Baig, M., Koenig, H. G., & Lingard, L. (2023) · Perspectives on Medical Education · doi:10.5334/pme.920 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationPearce, M., Pargäment, K. I., Wong, S., Hinkel, H. M., Salcone, S. G., Morgan, G. B., Kemp, D., Brock, B., Kim, E., Oxhandler, H. K., et al. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0306114 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Perspectives of spiritual care for nurse managers
Battey, B. W. (2012) · Journal of Nursing Management · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01360.x · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Franzen, A. B. (2018) · Journal of religion and health · doi:10.1007/s10943-018-0638-7 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Koenig et al. (2010) report that 90% of medical schools have courses on spirituality and health; however, 73% are included within other required courses and only 7% of medical schools have dedicated courses.”
BackgroundLucchetti, G., Almeida, P. O. D. A., Martin, E. Z., Góes, L. G., Cotta, K. C. G., Lima, A. C., Ezequiel, O. D. S., & Lucchetti, A. L. G. (2023) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-023-04153-z · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“Despite these promising numbers, S/H content is still being provided in a nonstructured, nonmandatory and fragmented way, relying mostly on theoretical classes with minimal practical exposure [5].”
BackgroundMethodResultInfluentialCommunicating about Spiritual Issues with Cancer Patients
Norris, L., Walseman, K., & Puchalski, C. M. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3369-9_8 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
de Aguiar, P. R. D. C., Cazella, S. C., & da Costa, M. R. (2017) · Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica · doi:10.1590/1981-52712015v41n2rb20170009 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Koenig, H. G., Perno, K., & Hamilton, T. (2017) · Advances in Medical Education and Practice · doi:10.2147/amep.s125352 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationTraining to Conduct Research on Religion, Spirituality and Health: A Commentary
Koenig, H. G., Hamilton, J. B., & Doolittle, B. R. (2021) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01193-x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationPsicologia, espiritualidade/religiosidade e cuidados paliativos: uma revisão integrativa
Aguiar, B. F., & Silva, J. P. (2021) · Revista Psicologia Diversidade e Saúde · doi:10.17267/2317-3394rpds.v10i1.2964 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Spirituality: do teachers and students hold the same opinion?
Banin, L. B., Suzart, N. B., Banin, V. B., Guimarães, F. G., Mariotti, L. L., & Lucchetti, G. (2013) · The Clinical Teacher · doi:10.1111/j.1743-498x.2012.00576.x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Koenig, H. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Peteet, J. R. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190088859.003.0001 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationMcEvoy, M., Schlair, S., Sidló, Z., Burton, W., & Milan, F. (2014) · Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000061 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Trofa, G. C., Germani, A. C. C. G., de Oliveira, J. A. C., & Eluf‐Neto, J. (2021) · Physis Revista de Saúde Coletiva · doi:10.1590/s0103-73312021310409 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Wenham, J., Best, M., & Kissane, D. W. (2023) · Journal of religion and health · doi:10.1007/s10943-023-01897-2 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“In 2010 a national survey in the USA reported that 90% of medical schools include courses or content on spirituality and health (Koenig et al., 2010).”
BackgroundSpirituality, religion, and suicide
Chen, Y., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-816766-3.00002-1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
A alma como problema público: espiritualidade e saúde no contexto dos EUA
de Paula, L. (2020) · Religião & Sociedade · doi:10.1590/0100-85872020v40n3cap04 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Lucchetti, G., Gonçalves, L. M., Ferreira, A. G. D. C., Daher, J. C., & Lucchetti, A. L. (2019) · Spirituality, Religiousness and Health · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-21221-6_15 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Ramakrishnan, P. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/yco.0000000000000180 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“ACPE.”
BackgroundInfluentialA Call for Health Care Providers to Address Faith Religiosity, and Spirituality among Older Adults
Abu, H. (2025) · American Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2025.05.048 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Chiddarwar, S., & Singh, D. (2016) · Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare · doi:10.18410/jebmh/2016/191 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Spiritual Care: Define and Redefine Self
Sridharan, K., & Sivaramakrishnan, G. (2016) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0269-9 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
SelfCare for HealthCare: The Best Way to Care for Patients Is to Care for Ourselves
Thieman, L. (2018) · Nurse Leader · doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2018.07.014 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Kim, D. T., Curlin, F. A., Wolenberg, K. M., & Sulmasy, D. P. (2014) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000370 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Hashim, H., Zaidi, Z., Alshaikhsalama, A. M., Kazi, A., & Jetpuri, Z. (2025) · Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development · doi:10.1177/23821205251336846 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“10 Thus, this study has 2 main objectives.”
Seddigh, R., Azarnik, S., Memaryan, N., & Hadi, F. (2020) · Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · doi:10.47176/mjiri.34.6 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Espiritualidad en ciencias sociales y salud
Solano, M. B. (2022) · Estudios Eclesiásticos Revista de investigación e información teológica y canónica · doi:10.14422/ee.v97.i381-382.y2022.005 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Koenig, H. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Peteet, J. R. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190088859.003.0002 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationUnderstanding the Religion, Mental, and Social Health Relationship
Koenig, H. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Peteet, J. R. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190088859.003.0016 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationWilliamson, E., Piedmont, R. L., Fox, J., Rowe, M., & Robinson, D. C. (2024) · Journal of Advanced Nursing · doi:10.1111/jan.16148 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Azam, L. S., Murrar, S., Maravia, U., Dávila, O., & Padela, A. I. (2024) · BMJ Leader · doi:10.1136/leader-2024-001004 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
van Randwijk, C. B., Opsahl, T., Hvidt, E. A., Stripp, T. A., Bjerrum, L., Herrstedt, J., Søndergaard, J., & Hvidt, N. C. (2021) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel12020116 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Discussion below) (Koenig et al. 2010).”
Islam, M. A., Hossain, A., Dutta, A., & Uvero, M. (2024) · American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education · doi:10.1016/j.ajpe.2024.101305 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Cultivating and Nurturing Medical Professionalism in the Cultural Context
Bekti, R. S., & Nishigori, H. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-16-7232-3_7 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The Role of Religion and Spirituality in the Care of Patients in Family Medicine
Lee‐Poy, M. (2012) · Scholarship@Western (Western University) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Spiritual Wellness Inventory
Childs, C. Y. (2014) · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Online Training Program Improves Providers’ Spiritual Competencies in Mental Health CarePreprint
Pearce, M., Pargäment, K. I., Oxhandler, H. K., Vieten, C., & Wong, S. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/ktsbe · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Religion/Spirituality Curriculum in US Osteopathic Medical Schools: A Survey
Hurst, D. J., Heric, A., & Collier, K. M. (2023) · Southern Medical Journal · doi:10.14423/smj.0000000000001499 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Un researchers before drafting the survey, which found only two previous manuscripts describing surveys conducted in US medical schools related to the presence of spirituality and religion in the curriculum.(13,14) These two prior studies were consulted for drafting the final version of the survey used for this study.”
BackgroundMethodPsychological Well-Being and Positive Emotions
Koenig, H. G., VanderWeele, T. J., & Peteet, J. R. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780190088859.003.0012 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationSpirituality and Mental Health: A Chinese Perspective
Yeung, A., Cetinkaya, D., & Deng, H. (2023) · Psychiatric Annals · doi:10.3928/00485713-20231107-01 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Spirituality and Interprofessional Healthcare Education
Hovland, C. A., Niederriter, J. E., & Thoman, J. (2018) · Journal of Christian Nursing · doi:10.1097/cnj.0000000000000543 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Schmidt, A. (2013) · Scholars Commons (Wilfrid Laurier University) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Lyndes, K. A., Cadge, W., & Fitchett, G. A. (2018) · Religion, spirituality and health: a social scientific approach · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-73966-3_26 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
King, N. E., Nelson, S., Joseph, S., Chowdhury, M., Whitfield, B. T., Hanjra, P., & Lin, L. O. (2021) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01325-3 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Spiritual issues in palliative medicine
McClement, S., Thompson, G. N., & Penner, J. L. (2021) · doi:10.1093/med/9780198821328.003.0100 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Silva, T. O., Moreira‐Almeida, A., Dias, A. L., & Welby-Borges, M. (2021) · HORIZONTE - Revista de Estudos de Teologia e Ciências da Religião · doi:10.5752/p.2175-5841.2021v19n60p1057 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
de Aguiar, P. R. D. C., Cazella, S. C., & da Costa, M. R. (2016) · MedEdPublish · doi:10.15694/mep.2016.000048 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“In the US, for example, only 7% of the universities offer a course on spirituality & health (Koenig et al. 2010).”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Koenig, H. G., Hooten, E. G., Lindsay-Calkins, E., & Meador, K. G.
- Affiliations
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Koenig, Harold G.
- ORCID
- Koenig, Harold G.
- Venue
- The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-12
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 391-398
- ISSN
- 0033-278X (ISSN-L)
- 0091-2174
- 1541-3527
- OpenAlex
- W2019815431
- Cited by
- 183
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 6.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
- Keywords
- spirituality and health, medical curriculum, medical education, medical school deans, faculty attitudes, curriculum content, patient coping, curriculum expansion, competency-based education
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude of Health Personnel, Curriculum, Data Collection, Education, Medical, Faculty, Medical, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, United States, Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical, Spirituality
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
