Spirituality in history taking

Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO, included in his founding postulates of osteopathy the concept that a patient's health includes the health of a patient's spirit. In the recent past, medicine as a whole, and osteopathic medicine specifically, has neglected this postulate. Recent research has confirmed the validity of Still's postulate, and many medical training institutions have received grants and established programs to incorporate spirituality into their curriculum. As with any patient evaluation, the history and physical examination is the starting platform. This article describes several tools that can be easily incorporated into the history and physical examination, along with some of the obstacles in evaluating the health of the patient's spirit.