Having problems with message search?
Program Manager
The George Washington Institute
for Spirituality and Health
2131 K Street NW, Suite 510
Washington DC 20037
202-496-6411
202-496-6413 fax
www.GWish.org
Dear Colleague,
The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish) is working toward a more compassionate system of healthcare by restoring the heart and humanity of medicine through research, education, and policy work focused on bringing increased attention to the spiritual needs of patients, families and healthcare professionals.
GWish is pleased to announce a call for applications for the GWish Awards in Spirituality and Medicine for Curriculum Development in
In addition to the medical school awards, we have awards for residency programs, one in primary care, which includes internal medicine and family practice, and the other in psychiatry. The residency award programs are $30,000 for three years. Many residency programs in psychiatry and primary care (internal medicine and family medicine) have received the award and have developed innovative and important courses in their curricula for residents. The courses in residency in spirituality and health have helped meet some of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements, specifically those dealing with patient care, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism.
In programs which include medical schools and residency programs, several of our previous applicants have developed creative longitudinal curricula, starting with the basics in medical school and extending into higher-level courses in the residency programs. This gives residency programs an opportunity to integrate their teaching with medical schools.
Our newest award program builds on what has already been implemented in many curricula, but also requires 1) a research component, and 2) an innovation in the healthcare system that seeks to change the environment to reflect what is being taught in medical schools. Some of the institutional changes that we have seen implemented in previous award programs are making significant impact in resident education as well as patient care.
Spiritual care is the foundation of compassionate care. It speaks to the connection that we form with our patients and colleagues, with the altruistic goals of providing our patients with the best possible care. By being attentive to all dimensions of our patients’ lives — the physical, emotional, social and spiritual — we can deliver to our patients the highest level of care. Therefore, the overall goal of these awards is to encourage the full integration of a more compassionate and holistic approach to healthcare.
These amazing advances in spirituality and medicine have been acknowledged by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which has included spirituality as a component of its Medical School Objectives Project Report III, a set of curriculum guidelines sent to all medical schools, found at www.aamc.org/meded/msop/msop3.pdf.
More than 100 of the 141 medical schools in the
Please consider passing this information on to your medical school faculty, such as ethics and doctor-patient communication course instructors, as well as your residency training program directors.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Christina Puchalski, M.D., FACP
Director
The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health
Associate Prof of Medicine, Healthcare Sciences
The
Associate Professor of Health Management and Leadership
The
>>> kliewers@... 12/28/2005 1:19 AM >>>
I think you hit on a critical question. Can one legislate morality?
Perhaps an additional question might be whether the ethical causes championed by some in the Christian community are the proper ones. I personally think it is far more important to look at how we treat the poor and vulnerable in our midst than most any thing else, and yet this is an issue being neglected by many of those in the Christian world creating the most noise.
SK
Stephen Kliewer. D.Min.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Oregon Health and Science University
Phone: 541-426-4524
Cell: 541-398-0547
FAX 541-426-3035
Email: kliewers@...
>>> cal.wilson@... 12/27/05 9:38 PM >>>
Steve K.
I very much appreciated your discussion of fundamentalism, as it does describe several issues that are frightening to many today; most particularly the "first" concern regarding the role of religion in society, and that "specific credal and ethical dictates derived from scripture be publicly recognized and legally enforced". Having grown up in a family with a long history of fundamentalist Christianity, I find this insistence on the "legal enforcement of scriptural dictates" interesting. My grandfather taught that the political-secular world (ie, outside of the church) was so far from understanding God's ways that the only solution was to avoid politics. He voted only rarely, but devoted himself to the church, to the poor in his sphere of influence, and to earnest personal discussions of spiritual issues. Many in his generation felt that society could only be changed by a spiritual transformation of the individual hearts of most of that society's members, not by legislating behavior. The failure of the grand experiment with Prohibition was often mentioned in this regard.
Given this bit of personal history, I find it interesting that the current descendents of these fundamentalists are now flexing their political muscle in the public arena, with seemingly little regard for the necessary changes in the hearts and attitudes of the community that would substantiate, validate, and sustain the values they cherish. A cup of cold water, a visit to the hospital, a weekly turn at a homeless shelter by a respected few in each community would do a lot more to mold our society's cultural norms and spiritual values than a blizzard of legislative initiatives.
Having spent 5 years in Jordan, I find that there are similar parallels in Islam. While a minority of "fundamentalist Muslims" advocate legislated or even forced adherence to the dictates of the Q'uran, most Muslims are quietly trying to observe the five pillars of Islam and teach their children to do the same.
Dr. Calvin Wilson
Director - Center for Global Health
University of Colorado Denver and Health Sciences Center
Phone - 303-986-0338
Mobile - 720-299-3790
Email - cal.wilson@...
________________________________
From: STFM-Spirituality@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Stephen Kliewer
Sent: Tue 12/27/2005 12:06 PM
To: SRoskos@...; STFM-Spirituality@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [STFM-Spirituality] (unknown)
Steven
Let me respond to your questions
Question One: What is GWISH
GWISH is the George Washington Institute on Spirituality and Health. It has been heavily funded by the Templeton Foundation, and is the group that offers the curricular awards. It is can be found at GWISH.ORG
Question Two: What is religious fundamentalism exactly? Isn't this term sort of derogatory regarding some people's chosen spirituality?
You are correct in noting that the term fundamentalism has negative connotations for many. It is a word that carriers with it some baggage. One can hardly read a weekly news magazine without encountering the term `fundamentalist' with reference to some group active on the world stage. In fact, the popularity of the term is part of the problem.
I wish I had a better term to use.
Bruce Lawrence in his book, Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Modern Age defines fundamentalism as " the affirmation of religious authority as holistic and absolute, admitting of neither criticism nor reduction; it is expressed through the collective demand that specific creedal and ethical dictates derived from scripture be publicly recognized and legally enforced ."
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences funded a multiyear project that brought scholars from around the world together to study Fundamentalism. Ultimately they produced 5 volumes containing almost 8,000 pages of material. Admitting some difficulty with the term, the project opts to use it anyway for a variety of reasons. Essentially, they argue that it is commonly accepted, here to stay, and the best term anyone can come up with for this phenomena. At one point in the study the researchers list 5 ideological characteristics and 4 organizational characteristics of fundamentalism. The Five ideological characteristics are:
*fundamentalists are concerned "first" with the erosion of religion and its proper role in society;
*fundamentalism is selective of their tradition and what part of modernity they accept or choose to react against;
*they embrace some form of Manicheanism (dualism);
*fundamentalists stress absolutism and inerrancy in their sources of revelation; and
*they opt for some form of Millennialism or Messianism.
The organizational characteristics include:
*an elect or chosen membership;
*sharp group boundaries;
*charismatic authoritarian leaders; and
*mandated behavioral requirements.
Jeffrey K. Hadden and Anson Shupe, in their work "Secularization and Fundamentalism Reconsidered" offer this definition, " a proclamation of reclaimed authority over a sacred tradition which is to be reinstated as an antidote for a society that has strayed from its cultural moorings."
Obviously people respond to the dynamics illustrated in all of the above descriptions differently. Some like it, some find it frightening, and others are very judgemental of such a stance. People will accept such a stance with respect to their own faith system and find it appalling in another faith system.
I am not trying to make a judgement about it. It simply is, and it is having a powerful impact on our world. In my part of the world, it has made many of those who were ambivelant about religions very negative. It has led to increased polarization, even among those who are from the same system. There may be some benefits as well. It has certainly brought some important issues into public awareness and created much dialouge.
Thinking back over your response, I am trying to think of a term that carries less baggage, but I find it difficult. If I talk about religious radicalism, I think there is still some degree of judgement. The advantage of that kind of term is that it may lead to a broader understanding of the issue. Since fundamentalism can be seen as a specific branch, normally conservative, of a religion. If we think about people who have "radical" views, there may be an ability to think of people on both ends of the theological spectrum. Some of those on the liberal end of the spectrum can be ideologically radically, rigid, and judgemental.
So you raise a very good issue.
Perhaps I'll rephrase the question this way...
We are seeing an increase in religious intensity, and spiritual and/or religious perspectives are being applied culturally, even politically - there are attempts to resacralize public life. How does this impact efforts to develop curriculum? Does it help, or hinder? Does the impact vary in different regions of the country (it has made it harder in Oregon), and how does it impact efforts to integrated healthcare and spirituality?
Steve K.
In reply to ...
Steven E. Roskos, MD
Department of Family Medicine
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
sroskos@...
865-544-9352, ext. 5059
Fax: 865-544-6532
_____
From: Stephen Kliewer [mailto:kliewers@...]
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2005 11:45 PM
To: STFM-Spirituality@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [STFM-Spirituality] (unknown)
Greetings
Just to let you know, John Saulz, MD, Chair of Family Medicine at Oregon =
Health Science University and I have finally finished out book on =
Healthcare and Spirituality. I invite you all to take a look at it on =
Amazon.com.
It was published in England by Radcliffe Medical Press, and is on its way =
to US warehouses now. Hope you find it useful.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857756223/qid=3D1135653337/sr=3D8-1/ref=
<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857756223/qid=3D1135653337/sr=3D8-1/ref=>
=3Dsr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-9389205-0697405?n=3D507846&s=3Dbooks&v=3Dglance
Also, GWISH will soon be sending information about its latest round of =
curricular awards. As a past award winner for both predoc and graduate I =
encourage you to look into this program. It is amazing how open administra=
tions can be when there is a little money attached.
There are some changes to the program you may find intriguing.
I would encourage any of you, if you run across resources you find useful, =
to post them on the listserve. Also let us know of events you think =
people might find of interest.
Finally, I'd like to end with a question that I would appreciate thoughts =
around. We are finding, Ithink a resurgence of religious fundamentalism. =
Has this impacted efforts to develop curricular elements? Does this =
affect the intergration of healthcare and spirituality?
Would love to hear your thoughts!
STEVE
Stephen Kliewer. D.Min.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Oregon Health and Science University
Phone: 541-426-4524
Cell: 541-398-0547
FAX 541-426-3035
Email: kliewers@...
Community email addresses:
Post message: STFM-Spirituality@onelist.com
Subscribe: STFM-Spirituality-subscribe@onelist.com
Unsubscribe: STFM-Spirituality-unsubscribe@onelist.com
List owner: STFM-Spirituality-owner@onelist.com
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://www.onelist.com/community/STFM-Spirituality
<http://www.onelist.com/community/STFM-Spirituality>
SPONSORED LINKS
Health and wellness
Health wellness product
Health and wellness program
Diet fitness health nutrition wellness
Health promotion and wellness
Business health wellness
_____
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
* Visit your group "STFM-Spirituality
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STFM-Spirituality> " on the web.
* To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
STFM-Spirituality-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<mailto:STFM-Spirituality-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
* Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo!
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Terms of Service.
_____
Stephen Kliewer. D.Min.
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Oregon Health and Science University
Phone: 541-426-4524
Cell: 541-398-0547
FAX 541-426-3035
Email: kliewers@...
Community email addresses:
Post message: STFM-Spirituality@onelist.com
Subscribe: STFM-Spirituality-subscribe@onelist.com
Unsubscribe: STFM-Spirituality-unsubscribe@onelist.com
List owner: STFM-Spirituality-owner@onelist.com
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://www.onelist.com/community/STFM-Spirituality
Yahoo! Groups Links
Offline 
Send Email