As Loma Linda University School of Medicine teaches the next generation of Christian physicians practical and highly effective ways to incorporate spiritual care in the practice of medicine, it recently incorporated a whole person care component into the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). This new addition was developed by select faculty, mentors, and fourth-year medical students.
Last fall during the second-year medical students’ two-week clinical skills block, students were presented with a case of an overwhelmed patient at the Clinical Skills Education Center. Each student was placed in an examination room with a standardized patient and recorded to assess competence as well as identify areas for improvement and practice.
Learning objectives of this particular OSCE are to incorporate and practice using the CLEAR Whole Person Care™ model to guide conversations that engage the whole person, as well as becoming familiar with the soul, spirit, and FICA (Faith and belief, Importance, Community, Address in care) spiritual history tools. The students had to show a personal connection with the standardized overwhelmed patient and practice empathetic listening. After listening to the standardized patient’s concerns and identifying sources of strength, the students responded by offering prayer or other sources of encouragement. The second-year medical students were evaluated and participated in debriefing sessions with clinical and religion faculty and fourth-year students to assess their clinical skills, knowledge, and ethics of spiritual care. Students were grateful for the opportunity to practice the skills they learned in their whole person care religion class in a safe, simulated environment. Many commented on their increased comfort and confidence in providing spiritual care after the OSCE.