"Suffer the Little Children": Integrating Medical and Theological Education for the Care of Pediatric Oncology Patients
Jessica Shand, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center and Faculty Associate at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, NY
Maurice W. Hopkins, M.Div., Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center
The care of sick and dying children in the hospital setting provides a unique lens through which to cultivate innovative collaborations between medical and pastoral care professionals. While the transformative potential of inter-professional dialogue is generally well recognized in medical education, there is limited experience to guide the development of innovative curricula that bring together students of medicine and theology- and how they may work together to address the clinical, moral and theological conundrums faced when caring for critically ill children. This paper will analyze the author’s experience, as a pediatric oncologist, developing and co-teaching two elective courses in Faith and Medicine. The first is taught to second-year medical students at an academic medical center as part of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics curriculum and is co-taught with members of the chaplaincy staff. The other is taught to divinity students at an affiliated ecumenical Christian institution and co-taught with members of the theology faculty. Common syllabus content will be described, in which the primary learning objectives are to 1) challenge students to explore how their own beliefs impact patient interactions and 2) re-envision how theological interpretations of suffering, grief and salvation can co-exist with medical knowledge in simultaneous non duality. Qualitative analysis of students’ responses to theological themes will be explored, including embodied suffering in the Lamentation Psalms, biblical interpretation of sick children in the Gospel of Mark, and iconographies of the suffering Mother (Pieta) will be presented. Likewise, qualitative analysis of educational methods utilized, including didactic, clinical case-based and reflective writing components will be described, as will quantitative analysis of student characteristics, participation and evaluations. Convergent and divergent perspectives on clinical cases between the physician and chaplain educators on common clinical cases will also be highlighted. While these two courses are currently being taught separately, their continued evolution is part of an ongoing education initiative that will integrate medical and divinity students in a single course that aims to facilitate the creation of new therapeutic partnerships that foster positive professional identity in physicians and chaplains, while improving the total care of pediatric patients.
Maurice W. Hopkins, M.Div., Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center
The care of sick and dying children in the hospital setting provides a unique lens through which to cultivate innovative collaborations between medical and pastoral care professionals. While the transformative potential of inter-professional dialogue is generally well recognized in medical education, there is limited experience to guide the development of innovative curricula that bring together students of medicine and theology- and how they may work together to address the clinical, moral and theological conundrums faced when caring for critically ill children. This paper will analyze the author’s experience, as a pediatric oncologist, developing and co-teaching two elective courses in Faith and Medicine. The first is taught to second-year medical students at an academic medical center as part of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics curriculum and is co-taught with members of the chaplaincy staff. The other is taught to divinity students at an affiliated ecumenical Christian institution and co-taught with members of the theology faculty. Common syllabus content will be described, in which the primary learning objectives are to 1) challenge students to explore how their own beliefs impact patient interactions and 2) re-envision how theological interpretations of suffering, grief and salvation can co-exist with medical knowledge in simultaneous non duality. Qualitative analysis of students’ responses to theological themes will be explored, including embodied suffering in the Lamentation Psalms, biblical interpretation of sick children in the Gospel of Mark, and iconographies of the suffering Mother (Pieta) will be presented. Likewise, qualitative analysis of educational methods utilized, including didactic, clinical case-based and reflective writing components will be described, as will quantitative analysis of student characteristics, participation and evaluations. Convergent and divergent perspectives on clinical cases between the physician and chaplain educators on common clinical cases will also be highlighted. While these two courses are currently being taught separately, their continued evolution is part of an ongoing education initiative that will integrate medical and divinity students in a single course that aims to facilitate the creation of new therapeutic partnerships that foster positive professional identity in physicians and chaplains, while improving the total care of pediatric patients.