Major Proposal

Description | Rationale | Background | Courses | Web Portfolio

Description:

This major studies the humanitarian skills needed to be a compassionate physician who can communicate effectively with patients about issues related to their medical care; as well as discussing a patients' spiritual beliefs and how those beliefs affect the patient's health. It also incorporates ethical aspects such as respecting a patient's privacy, being vigilant in avoiding imposing beliefs onto patients, and moral approaches to ethical dilemmas. My particular interest is in the study of compassionate medicine, both as a religious and ethical reality as well as a scientific practice. This major incorporates studies from the religion, psychology, philosophy, sociology/anthropology, and science departments. Finally, this major will also assist me in my personal journey of understanding my calling to serve those in need.

Rationale: (Top)

What do I mean by compassion? Much has been written about compassion, but the vocabulary of caring entails a hierarchy of terms: beneficence , which comes from the Latin word meaning "active kindness"; empathy, which means "in feeling" (understanding the patient's feelings); sympathy , which goes a step further, meaning "like-feeling" or "fellow-feeling"; and compassion , which literally means "to suffer with." Compassion means taking up your place with the sufferer and suffering with the person.

The goal of compassionate medicine is to act in the best interest of the patient. I believe that in order to accomplish this goal it is critical to listen to patients with empathy and respect, and to learn about the patient's needs, fears, dreams, hopes, and goals. It is important to know who one's patients are and not just what their disease is. To me, this is especially crucial in the practice of medicine. Unfortunately, discussions of spirituality and religion have long been considered inappropriate in the study and practice of medicine. However, I believe these issues to the health and well being of patients is crucial because such discussions will open the door to a more trusting, deeper, and more meaningful relationship. To me, this is at the heart of patient-centered, rather than disease-centered, medicine.

The desire to help those in sorrow, need, and sickness is at the root of medicine. In my opinion, there is no higher spiritual value than being of service to another individual. I believe that there is a unity of the human person that is body and spirit and therefore I feel it is necessary to integrate spiritual care into the practice of medicine. Many surveys have demonstrated that spirituality is important to people and that a significant percentage of patients would like their physicians to discuss their spiritual beliefs with them, a number of studies show that having spiritual beliefs is beneficial to patients, particularly those with serious illness.

The major 'Compassion and Medicine' embodies the mission of St. Olaf College. St. Olaf "focuses on what is ultimately worthwhile and fosters the development of the whole person in mind, body and spirit". Moreover, compassionate healthcare is central to Christian teachings. Jesus is the prime example of a compassionate caregiver. Each of His actions in the New Testament exemplifies the call to act with compassion, love tenderly, serve others, and to walk humbly with God. All of this is in the pursuit to serve others.

The liberal arts tradition incorporates a well rounded, balanced, and insightful education that inspires the desire to continue life-long learning. This major incorporates courses from classes across many different fields of study including religion, psychology, philosophy, sociology/anthropology, and the natural sciences.

From these sources I will broaden my base knowledge and learn to develop my own ideas of how to incorporate religion, spirituality, ethics, and compassion into the practice of medicine.

Background: (Top)

Most children when they grow-up what to be a firefighter, a ballerina, or an astronaut. I wanted to be a doctor. As a young girl, I can recall dressing up in my daddy's starch pressed white button down dress shirt, strapping my plastic Matel© stethoscope around my neck, and filling my black doctors bag with all the amenities: tongue depressors, cotton swabs, band aids, throat lozenges, and a thermometer. For as long as I can remember, it has always been my dream to be in a position where I had the knowledge and insight to help cure illnesses, relieve pain, and improve quality of life. For as long as I can remember, it has been my passion is to help and serve those in need with honesty, integrity, compassion, and love.

As a sophomore in college, I became very ill and was hospitalized for five days. Unable to pinpoint the cause of my chronic and debilitating symptoms, I was put through the ringer so to speak. I had my blood drawn every few hours, x-rays and scans taken from all angles, a number of intrusive tests preformed on me, and every inch of my body felt as those it had been poked and prodded and my symptoms still persisted. During this time I felt vulnerable, frightened, and helpless. Not once during this horrifying experience did a medical professional sit down and explain to me, in simple and easy to understand jargon, what was being done to reach a diagnoses or what the results of my tests showed. Before I knew it, I was rushed into surgery and my appendix was removed. unnecessarily. One appendix lighter, I left the hospital with the same persistent symptoms that got me there in the first place.

This experience was a great learning lesson, because now I know how it feels to be in the patient's position. I am aware of what it is like to be the recipient of medical care and I feel this is a powerful and valuable perspective to have as I embark on a career in medicine. Moreover, this experience has motivated me to explore and develop the humanitarian skills needed to be a compassionate physician who can communicate effectively with patients about issues related to their medical care; as well as discussing a patients' spiritual beliefs and how those beliefs affect the patient's health.

Through this major I plan on incorporating ethical aspects such as respecting a patient's privacy, being vigilant in avoiding imposing beliefs onto patients, and moral approaches to ethical dilemmas. My particular interest is in the study of compassionate medicine, both as a religious and ethical reality as well as a scientific practice.

I believe the human heart by which we live must control our professional relations. For this reason, I would like to leave St. Olaf with the skills to help people cope with their trials by helping them find meaning in their suffering and assisting them in forming a relationship with a transcendent being or concept that provides meaning and purpose to the joys and sufferings in their life.

Courses: (Top) | (Home)

The courses required for my major address the main parts of the major: religion, ethics and natural sciences.

So/An 128: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: (Courses)

This course is a wonderful beginning to understanding and comparing cultures and societies, focusing on different aspects such as family and kinship; inequality and power; religion and values; economy and technology; cultural and social change. This course will broaden my understanding of people from all different walks of life who conceptualize experiences and organize themselves in various ways in order to accomplish what they need to.

- Reciprocity In All Its Forms
- Defining Culture
- Somalia Culture

Psychology 121: Principles of Psychology: (Courses)

This course is applicable to my major because it investigates such topics as biology's role in personality and how culture influences humanity (specifically, gender and ethnicity). Moreover, this course will challenge me to use critical thinking skills to examine popular psychological questions and apply basic research methods, which will be extremely useful in the medical profession.

Religion 207: Christian Theology and the Moral Life: (Courses)

In my opinion, it is important for all medical professionals to have moral character and to be aware of ethical perspectives and principles. This course provides a wonderful gateway for me to begin examining essential Christian beliefs with special attention to their implications for the moral life and it will encourage me to examine how ethical perspectives and principles apply to various community and societal institutions and practices.

- Covenants

Religion 225: God and Human: (Courses)

For patients facing a terminal illness or personal problem many question and doubt their religious and spiritual beliefs. This course will provide the opportunity to explore the ways that Christian theology has attempted to respond to questions of suffering and evil. In addition, this course will examine challenges to the Christian perspective, which will broaden my perspective and approach to such questions.

- The Problem of Pain and Suffering
- Why do bad things happen to good people?

Religion 295: Religious Pluralism and Community: (Courses)

This course will enable me to examine the ways in which the world's religions, particularly Christianity, have interpreted each other's significance and truth claims and will challenge me to consider the ethical implications of these different responses. This knowledge will make me more aware of other religious viewpoints and stances on important social, political and ethical issues. This awareness will make me more sensitive and open-minded to such beliefs, especially in the medical profession.

- Women and Interfaith Dialogue
- The Potentials and Pitfalls of Interfaith Marriages

Philosophy 252: Ethics and the Moral Life: (Courses)

As a medical provider it is crucial to examine ethical perspectives and how they apply to contemporary moral concerns. This course is worthwhile because it focuses on theoretical issues such as rights, duties, virtue, ethics, and theology, the fact-value distinction, relativism, and pluralism. In taking this course I will become more knowledgeable about current topics such as economic justice, death, friendship, animal rights, censorship, racism, privacy, reproductive ethics, and environmental ethics.

- Egoism

Natural sciences are a key component of this major. Therefore, I have incorporate this course, along with other social and natural science courses, in order to emphasis the medical and health aspect of this major. Intermediate genetics is a wonderful course for this major, because it covers ideas and technologies for understanding functions of cells, gene transmission and regulation, and examines the relationship between genotype and phenotype. These are all important concepts to learn in order to have a better understanding of how the human body functions.

Biology 243: Anatomy/Physiology: (Courses)

This course also addresses the medical and health aspect of my major. Throughout this class I will be studying the structure of the body (anatomy) and how organs perform their amazing functions (physiology). By acquiring a greater understanding of the human body I will be more prepared for medical school and for a career in medicine.

Social Work 258: Social Policy: (Courses)

Through this course I will learn how society's values and needs are translated into policies and programs. Studying how policies are created, implemented, and evaluated will help me understand the impact health care policies have on the interests and needs of diverse groups in this country.

- OXFAM's Global Reach
- Social Policy Analysis
- Social Policy Description
- Roe vs. Wade

Religion 399: Speaking of God : (Courses)

The aim of this course is to learn how to interpret, dissect, and understand the meaning of God's teachings through biblical and religious text. It provides an opportunity to choose a topic or issue and research it throughout the semester. I will focus on a number of teachings that express the importance of compassion and service toward others and focus on passages that describe Jesus' interactions with the sick and less fortunate.

Medical Internship: (Courses)

An internship in a medical setting provides a career testing opportunity. I completed this component of my major in January '03 by interning at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I shadowed physicians in clinics, observed surgeries, shadowed a registered nurse in the Emergency Room, learned about hospital administration, visited different wards of the hospital, and went on night rounds with hospital security. Overall, through this experience I acquired a better understanding of how hospitals operate and became knowledgeable about a variety of fields of healthcare.

- Medical Internship

IS 391: (Courses)

My independent study will be spent shadowing healthcare professionals at Northfield Hospice; working with the IRB to prepare interview questions (that will be used second semester to interview healthcare professionals); writing a compelling thesis for Religion 399; work with Kris MacPherson in obtaining research and finding useful resources for my final project. The goal of IS 391 is to acquire a bettering understanding of how compassion is linked with professionalism in the healthcare field.

-The academic undertaking for senior project 1

IS 392: Senior Project II: (Courses)

My senior project will be based on research done during first semester. In addition, I will rely on interviews and observations to formulate conclusions on how the concept of compassion, religion, and service are incorporated into this field of medicine. I will use this information to further explore my interest in how compassion is linked with professionalism in the health care field. I will work with a librarian, Kris MacPherson, in order to obtain information and resources that will help me in this endeavor. I will present the information that I find in a public presentation and through an essay that may be published.

-The academic undertaking for senior project 2

Related Study:

I am also a Religion major and I have completed all of the required courses for medical school (they are not included in this major).

Web Portfolio: (Top)

The purpose of the web portfolio is to present the culmination of all I have learned through my CIS major and make it easily accessible to the general public. I will incorporate an array of information, including interviews, a journal of my experience and observations while interning at the Hospice center, information regarding Hospice care, and an overview of how compassion is linked with professionalism in the healthcare field. My goal in creating this web portfolio is for people to understand the importance and necessity for compassionate in the practice of medicine. Therefore, the web portfolio will be interesting, eye-catching, personal, and explicit. I intend to thoroughly explain what I have learned, the challenges I encountered, and what I intend to do as a result of this education.