Medical student reflections: Chaplain shadowing as a model for compassionate care training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Qualitative Research
• Healthcare Chaplaincy

Background:

• Physician training requires prioritizing compassionate and empathetic care.
• Hospital chaplains are well-positioned to model compassionate care.
• Integrating spirituality into medical education is an area of interest.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore medical students' perceived benefits of pastoral care shadowing.
• To understand how shadowing chaplains can integrate compassion and spirituality into medical curricula.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving 64 medical students' written reflections.
• Data collected from December 2018 to January 2020.
• Reflections analyzed using coding networks.

Main Results:

• Four major themes emerged: learned values, roles of pastoral care, spiritual assessment, and personal career impact.
• Students identified practical skills and personal growth.
• Sub-themes detailed specific learnings within each major theme.

Conclusions:

• Chaplain shadowing effectively enhances spiritual and compassionate care education.
• The model utilizes role-modeling, hands-on learning, and reflective practices.
• This approach supports the development of empathetic physicians.