Sacred Sites of Houston: How Faith and Medicine Intersect
The Karff Center’s course offering, Sacred Sites of Houston: How Faith and Medicine Intersect helps to coordinate a unique experiential elective course for students in the health professions. This course brings a cohort of medical, nursing, and dental students from the Houston-area to six different faith communities in order to interact with leadership and community members.
Course Overview:
This experiential course exposes students to a diverse range of religious traditions by bringing them on a series of site visits to local religious institutions. Rather than simply learning about the relationships between religious identity, belief, and practice and health in a classroom setting, this course allows participants to interact with faith leaders, healthcare professionals, and other community members in the physical environments and neighborhoods that house these communities. This provides students with direct insight into the fact that while they may work in a clinical setting, their patients are embedded in a rich tapestry of beliefs, practices, and elements of community life that often have implications for how they approach and manage their health. Students are encouraged to ask questions and engage in dialogue with hosts.
The major religions covered in this course are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Typically, a “rotating” sixth tradition is also covered.
Learning Objectives:
Familiarity with the basic beliefs and practices of major religious traditions.
An understanding of the “two-way street” between religion and health.
Knowledge of skills in cultural humility.
Acknowledgement of healthcare professionals’ role in acknowledging and addressing religion and spirituality in patient care.
Course Format:
The course consists of an orientation class, six (more or less depending on institution) two-hour site visits, and a final debriefing session.
Each site visit includes the following elements:
Tour of site
Overview the tradition’s beliefs and practices (usually delivered by a faith leader).
Overview of particular views on health, healing, and the body (usually delivered by a healthcare professional who adheres to the tradition).
Interaction with a community member who has had or is still experiencing a health condition.
Q+A Session
When possible, a post-visit lunch with community members is provided.
The orientation class covers:
Framework for understanding the links between religion and health.
Essential skills in cultural humility.
Course logistics, what to expect, considerations for visits, etc.
The debriefing session covers:
Student feedback and course reflections.
Points of discomfort.
Course Requirements:
Attendance at orientation class.
Attendance at five of six site visits.
Completion of a pre- and post-course survey.
Final written reflection piece, typically one to two pages.
Attendance at the de-briefing session.
Course Outcomes:
In addition to pre- and post-course survey data, which has yielded important insights into course outcomes, course organizers have for the past two years collected and analyzed semi-conservative qualitative interview data from past participants who at the time of data collection were in the clinical rotation portion of their medical training. Interview transcripts from participants and a control sample were thematically coded and analyzed. Key findings are summarized in the table below.
Student Testimonies:
“During the course of sacred sites I learned so much about so many different religions and cultures. I plan on using that knowledge every single day I see patients, and outside of the clinic while living normal life. I learned how to be more open minded and considerate of the intricacies of other ways of life. I learned how to be more respectful and how to communicate that respect for different cultures. But most importantly I learned how to provide culturally competent care to people of all walks of life.“ – Participant, Spring 2017
“[Learning] how a patient’s beliefs shape their motivations will [...] aid in providing not only focused medical aid from the healthcare team’s side but encouragement on the patient’s side [for their] recovery.” – Participant, Fall 2018
“The most important thing I got from this course, in my opinion, is to not be afraid of approaching the subject of religion with my patients.” – Participant, Spring 2017
“The greatest take away would be the reminder to approach every patient with an open mind, especially with regards to their spirituality. I hope to integrate this appreciation for the diversity in spiritual backgrounds in any environment, especially the importance it will hold for some of my future patients.” – Participant, Spring 2018
Past Host Sites:
Aishel House
Baha'i Community Center
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir
Blue Mosque
Chung Mei Buddhist Temple
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Congregation Emanu El
Dawn Mountain
Fountain of Praise Church
Grace Episcopal Church
Gurdwara Sahib of Southwest Houston
Hare Krishna Temple
Islamic Da'Wah Center
Islamic Society of Greater Houston
Jade Buddha Temple
Jewish Family Services
Mercy Street
Society of Friends Live Oak Meeting
South Main Baptist Church
Temple Beth Israel
Vietnamese Buddhist Center
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church
Zoroastrian Society of Greater Houston