Spirituality in Medicine Archives

Healing With Prayer

This episode of Radio Rounds aired on Sunday March 4. Check out streaming audio of this episode on WYSO.org and the free podcast download on our iTunes page! Also (coming soon): FULL RECAP!

Featured Guest: Neurosurgeon Dr. David Levy, who discusses the role that prayer can play in the healing relationship between physician and patient. Dr. Levy shares the powerful, yet lighthearted story of his journey to praying with patients, and the positive impact that it has had on all involved. In addition, he recently published a book, Gray Matter, that shares more amazing stories about his career. You can find Gray Matter at bookstores nationwide!

Remember: All Past Episodes are on iTunes!

Faith In Medicine

This episode aired on April 17, 2011 and is now available as a free download on our iTunes page!

In this episode, our team investigates the application of faith in medical practice.

Featured Guest: Dr. David Stevens, Chief Executive Officer of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, (CMDA). In addition, as the former medical director for Samaritan’s Purse, Dr. Stevens led medical teams into war zones in both Somalia and Sudan.

Dr. Stevens has previously appeared on NBC’s Today Show, NBC Nightly News, BBC-World Television, CNN and National Public Radio. As a medical missionary, Dr. Stevens has witnessed the power of faith in medicine. He discusses the use of the psycho-physiological model of medicine in the United States in comparison to the religious model on which many other countries have based their medical practice.

Faith is seldom discussed in medical education, which presents an interesting problem. When patients ask their physician about faith-related issues, most have very little preparation for handling the situation unless faith is of central importance to them personally.

Hosts John Corker and Adam Deardorff — in addition to special guest Peter Hountras MS4 — lead the discussion with Dr. Stevens and delve into the roles of faith in both the patient’s and the physician’s life. Since mental well-being is of critical importance to the overall health of the patient, faith and spirituality often play important roles in medical treatment, particularly in end-of-life scenarios.

To learn more about the CMDA, visit their website at www.cmda.org.

Conrad Fischer Part I – The Best Time to be in Medicine

The free podcast of this episode is available on our iTunes page!

In October 2009, the Radio Rounds crew visited Mt. Carmel Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and met Dr. Conrad Fischer — author of Routine Miracles: Restoring Faith and Hope in Medicine, Chair of Medicine for Kaplan Medical and Director of Educational Development for Nassau University Medical Center in New York.

That afternoon, hosts Avash Kalra, Lakshman Swamy, and Shamie Das sat down with Dr. Fischer and conversed about a variety of topics — the miracles of modern medicine, the heroic culture that should be instilled in physicians and medical schools, and the motivation that leads many of us to this profession in the first place. This episode features Part I of that conversation — without a doubt one of the most inspiring and dynamic interviews ever featured on Radio Rounds.

The dynamic Dr. Fischer challenges the notion that the practice of medicine was somehow “better” 25 years ago, and he proclaims a call to action for all medical students and physicians. As he says, we should want to go “cure a disease before lunchtime!”

Also in this episode, we hear from Dr. Larry Lawhorne (Chair of Geriatrics at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine) and Beth Delaney (Program Manager of Palliative Care at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio). As part of a special tribute to Veterans Day, we discuss with Beth and Dr. Lawhorne a unique “Honor Flight” program, as well as unique health care issues related to veterans (e.g. post-traumatic stress disorder).

Revisiting The House of God

On October 25, 2009, while the Radio Rounds crew was in Chicago, we concluded our three-week Experience of Residency series, and the free podcast is available on our iTunes page here!

Our special guest in this episode is Samuel Shem — which is the pen-name for Harvard psychiatrist and former Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Stephen Bergman. Shem is the author of the famous novel The House of God, which was published over 30 years ago but remains one of the greatest works ever written about the medical profession. The House of God was in fact named by the British medical journal The Lancet as one of the two most important American medical novels of the 20th century, alongside Sinclair Lewis’ Arrowsmith.

In the episode, Shem talks about why he thinks The House of God is so well-received, even today — and how the perception of the novel has changed since its time of publication. We also discuss Shem’s latest book, The Spirit of the Place and about “how to stay human in medicine.” We encourage you to listen to the podcast of this episode, and of each episode in our Experience of Residency series! To recap, our special guests for the series were:

Part I (Episode 210): Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, Author of Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation
Part II (Episode 211): Dr. Michael Collins, Author of Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs and Hot Lights, Cold Steel
Part III (Episode 212): Samuel Shem (Dr. Stephen Bergman), Author of The House of God and The Spirit of the Place

Want to hear more from Samuel Shem? Visit his website to listen to his 2009 Harvard Medical School commencement speech.

Conrad Fischer Part II – Hope. The Facts. Heroism.

The free podcast of this episode is available on our iTunes page!

This episode features the second half to Radio Rounds’ conversation with Dr. Conrad Fischer, author of Routine Miracles: Restoring Faith and Hope in Medicine. Make sure to listen to both parts of the interview (Episodes 215 and 216)!

In Part II of our interview, Dr. Fischer continues his message of hope and heroism in medicine, and he discusses how current medical students and physicians can overcome negativity that sometimes might rear its ugly head regarding the medical profession — whether it’s in the media or from physicians themselves. NOW, he says, is the best time to be in medicine — not 25 years ago, as you may hear some people say.

He describes his book, Routine Miracles, as a “manifesto for action” within the current culture of medicine, and he uses his closing message to assure the listeners of the inspiring and unprecedented work that physicians and the profession of medicine are doing.