602 Cathedral of Learning

Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics, Division of General Internal Medicine

 

and

Senior Research Project Coordinator, PittVax, Department of Family Medicine

 

What does religion and spirituality (R/S) have to do with clinical patient care? More than first meets the eye.  It turns out, that R/S can have a significant role in medical decision making shaping the clinical encounter, the treatment sought and adhered to, clinical outcomes, and the level of patient reported satisfaction with quality of care received.  Physicians, nursing staff, pharmacists, allied health care professionals, social workers and public health professionals will encounter patients whose R/S beliefs will shape their response to care received.  Drawing on research and clinical experience, this talk will explore how to we make room for and conduct patients' R/S assessment within the clinical encounter, as well as how clinicians may appropriately manage their our own R/S beliefs and/or biases when engaging with patient's whose beliefs and views may differ from their own.