Thanks, Nancy, for opening a conversation.  I was just writing to a friend about teaching spirituality in my Community Medicine course.  We had two residents with international backgrounds who had both experienced religious animosity and persecution in their countries of origin.  I used the Spirituality and Medical Practice article from AFP(January 1, 2001) to open a discussion on the value of religious affiliations, to balance their stories of the dangers.

Wanted to help them with coming to Oklahoma, so offered a piece on Native American Medicine as a grounding.  Then I wondered if there is a way to improve the content of our session.

I, too, want to know how others speak on these to their learners.

Allene B. Jackson, M.D.

 Department of Family Medicine

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine