Medical student reflections: Chaplain shadowing as a model for compassionate care training

Abstract

Purpose

Training of compassionate and empathetic physicians requires commitment by educators to make it a priority. Chaplains typically have time and training to effectively demonstrate compassionate care in the clinical setting. This qualitative study aims to explore perceived benefits among medical students from pastoral care shadowing in integrating compassion and spirituality into education curricula.

Methods

Sixty-four written reflections from first- and second-year medical students were collected from December 2018 to January 2020 after shadowing with hospital chaplains. Unprompted reflections were analyzed using coding networks.

Results

Four major themes identified included (1) learned values within pastoral care, (2) learned roles of pastoral care in the healthcare setting, (3) practiced spiritual assessment tools and resource identification, and (4) reflected personal impact on future career. Within each major theme, three to four sub-themes were further identified.

Conclusions

Reflections support chaplain shadowing as a model for emphasizing spiritual and compassionate care through role-modeling, hands-on learning and reflective practices.

Keywords:

• Integrated
• communication skills
• ethics/attitudes
• curriculum infrastructure
• mentoring

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to graciously thank all members of the pastoral care department at Augusta University Health for giving their time and expertise during medical student shadowing experiences, as well as student members of the LTE program for their dedication in promoting compassionate care.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Glossary

Compassion: A sympathetic consciousness of others’ adversities accompanied with a desire to alleviate it (Lown et al. 2011)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mikalyn T. DeFoor

Mikalyn T. DeFoor, MD, is a graduate from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University (AU) and current Orthopaedic Surgery resident at Brooke Army Medical Center.

Mary M. Moses

Mary M. Moses is a third-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia AU.

W. Jeffery Flowers

W. Jeffery Flowers, DMin, BCC, is Director of Pastoral Care at AU Health System. He is a board-certified chaplain and faculty in the Center for Bioethics and Health Policy.

Richard W. Sams

Richard W. Sams II, MD, MA, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and in the Center for Bioethics and Health Policy at AU.