Description
Of all the ways Jesus could
have demonstrated His power, the most frequent display was through healing. He
also commanded His disciples to go out for the purposes of preaching and
healing, linking these two together in a way that should make us want to go and
do likewise. Overall health must include spiritual health, or else the benefits
will be short-lived. There are many demonstrable benefits for those of our
patients who are walking with Jesus, and we can help our patients more fully
appreciate the physical blessings connected with spiritual health.
1. What
from this video inspired, edified or challenged you?
2. During the course of your study of the Faith
Prescriptions resource, has your ability to address your patients’
spiritual needs increased? What changes have you seen?
3. Dr. Curlin makes a strong case for
integrating our personal (spiritual) and professional lives, and for viewing
all patients and colleagues as spiritual beings. How do the following
Scriptures speak to his points?
a. Luke
9:2
b. Matthew
9:1-8
c. Matthew
25:34-40
4. Dr. Curlin states regarding the
practice of medicine, “We should make use of it, it’s a gift of God, but don’t
put our hope in it, as if it is the physician who saves.” See if you can create
a statement to a patient that would communicate this reality to a patient in a
way that honors Christ. (Perhaps give each participant time to create a
statement, then allow multiple people to read what they came up with).
5. Do you believe the overall health of a
patient includes their spiritual health? If so, what are some ways you
demonstrate this belief to your patients?
6. Dr. Curlin states, “We don’t treat the profession
of science as somehow self-vindicating, as somehow beyond critique. Science
does not give us direction about how to use technology.”
a. Why might some believe science is
self-vindicating?
b. What are
some examples of how medical science, in the absence of proper moral grounding,
has progressed in ways that make immorality more prevalent?
7. Dr. Harold Koenig states, “People who
are a part of a faith community, people who attend religious services
regularly, have enormous health benefits from that…And that gives physicians a
really good reason for encouraging patients to engage in their faith
community.” Have you ever shared with patients the empirical benefits of
religious involvement? Why or why not?
8. What
is one take-home item from today’s session that you hope to implement?
Contributors
-
Farr Curlin, MD
Dr. Curlin is a Josiah Trent Professor of Medical Humanities and Co-Director of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke University. Dr. Curlin received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Duke, Dr. Curlin practices hospice and palliative medicine, and he works with colleagues across the university to develop opportunities for education and scholarship at the intersection of theology, medicine and culture. He has authored more than one hundred and thirty articles and book chapters dealing with the moral and spiritual dimensions of medical practice. Dr. Curlin’s work focuses on the relevance of religious ideas and practices for the doctor-patient relationship, the moral and professional formation of clinicians, and care for patients at the end of life. Dr. Curlin has been a CMDA member since 2006.