Female Physicians In Training And The Role Religion Plays In A Patient's Life

[Guest guest]

Female Physicians In Training And The Role Religion Plays In A

Patient's Life

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=34973

Can sensitivity to the role religion plays in a patient's life

positively affect physician bedside manner and care of the patient?

Yes, for female physicians in training; no, for male physicians in

training, according to a research letter published in the December

issue of the Southern Medical Journal.

" Research has shown that patients want their physicians to be aware

of their religious beliefs, values, and needs and to discuss

religious issues with them, especially if they are preparing for

death. At the same time, studies have documented physician avoidance

of religious discussions due to discomfort and lack of training, "

said senior author , M.D., professor of medicine at the

Indiana University School of Medicine. " Other research suggests that

medical students exposed to religion during medical training display

more empathy and positive attitudes toward religion in the clinic.

" Our study found that religious awareness training improves medical

student interpersonal behavior, but the effect is moderated by

gender, " said Dr. , who also is a research scientist at the

Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and the Indiana University Center for

Aging Research.

Dr. and co-authors T. Chibnall, Ph.D., and Ann Cook,

Ph.D., report that female medical students who received religious

awareness training in addition to communications training

demonstrated superior interpersonal skills relative to those who

received communications training only. No similar effect was found in

male medical students.

The findings were published in a research letter rather than as a

research study due to the preliminary nature of the data and the

small sample size.

Twelve medical students received patient supportiveness training and

15 medical students received supportiveness training plus religious

awareness training. The study hypotheses and difference in training

were not explained to the students, and they were unaware that the

subsequent simulated patient interaction was related at all to

religious awareness training.

HOPE, a teaching methodology that integrates spiritual assessment

into patient interviews, was used to train the future physicians in

spiritual and religious sensitivity. HOPE training is designed to

assist physicians in comprehending the effects of a patient's

spiritual and religious beliefs on medical care and end-of-life

issues (hope, organized religion, personal spirituality, and effects

on medical care).

The researchers want to expand the research to determine why the

impact of training designed to the support patients' spiritual and

religious needs differs in male and female medical students.

" Is this gender disparity related to cultural norms, the same norms

that look down upon a male who cries in public? Or are women better

communicators? Also, since both the communications trainer and the

simulated patient were female, could the gender of these

professionals have affected the outcome? We don't know the answers to

these questions, but we want to find out, " said Dr. . " We are

trying to train students to be nonjudgmental and supportive

physicians. Increased spiritual and religious sensitivity may enable

them to better understand and thus better care for their patients

throughout their lives, especially when facing end-of-life

decisions. "

Dr. Chibnall is from the Department of Psychiatry at Saint Louis

University School of Medicine; Dr. Cook is from JVC Radiology and

Medical Analysis LLC, both of St. Louis, Mo. This study was supported

by the Lutheran Foundation, and the Marchetti Jesuit Endowment at

Saint Louis University.