The Necessity of Addressing Spiritual Health in Medical Education Curricula

The need to address spirituality and the non-physical aspects of human beings is increasingly recognized and attended by healthcare providers and medical education institutes worldwide. Considering its importance and the emphasis of the Holy Qur'an and Islamic instructions and the Iranian Islamic civilization heritage, spiritual issues are expected to have a high priority to achieve a comprehensive and holistic approach to human life and health, so that it is reflected appropriately in the country's medical education. However, it seems that there are evident gaps in addressing the spiritual dimension of health in various parts of the Iranian medical education system, including in the curricula. This study aimed to investigate the situation of spiritual health in medical education programs to highlight the necessity of addressing spiritual health in medical education curricula.

To conduct this study, the curricula of 31 undergraduate programs including medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, and 28 bachelor's programs in medical education were reviewed and analyzed concerning any mentions of spiritual health issues.

The study revealed that spiritual concepts are absent in about half of the curricula under study, while in many other fields, general references to these concepts can be seen only in the introductions of the field and especially in the statement of values and beliefs. A limited number of curricula contain a spiritual approach in other components of the curriculum as well, mainly in some relevant courses, but the tendency towards this approach is noticeable in the latest version of the curricula of nursing and general medicine. Furthermore, there is no course entitled spiritual health or with any other title dedicated to the relationship between religion and spirituality. Of course, 17 programs contain courses related to professional ethics, in which some references are made to religious and spiritual issues.

Regarding the necessity of training healthcare providers with a holistic approach, it seems that the curricula of medical education programs need a fundamental change to address the spiritual aspect of health appropriately. The perceived necessity of addressing spiritual health in medical education programs and the perceived gap in this regard confirms the necessity of revising the curricula as part of the road map to achieve the desired situation. It should be given proper attention by the medical education policymakers and authorities.