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Western medical education has only recently sought to attend to the spiritual aspects of the patient. The overwhelming evidence of the role the spiritual plays in health and disease has led to movement to adopt a bio-psycho-social-spiritual model of care. However, these efforts often lack wholistic integration. The purpose of this article is to describe a program and international network helping to address the need for curricula and methods to educate healthcare professionals in whole person care wholistically and to make the availability of these resources more widely known to those likely to benefit from and use them. The UK Christian charity PRIME: Partnerships in International Medical Education provides a free curriculum and training opportunities for this purpose. PRIME’s approach and course have been widely sought and accepted by professionals from different cultures and faith groups and has developed into an international network.

Objective: This Student Selected Component (SSC) was designed to equip United Kingdom (UK) medical students to engage in whole-person care. The aim was to explore students' reactions to experiences provided, and consider potential benefits for future clinical practice. Methods: The SSC was delivered in the workplace. Active learning was encouraged through facilitated discussion with and observation of clinicians, the palliative team, counselling services, hospital chaplaincy and healing ministries; sharing of medical histories by patients; and training in therapeutic communication. Assessment involved reflective journals, literature appraisal, and role-play simulation of the doctor-patient consultation. Module impact was evaluated by analysis of student coursework and a questionnaire. Results: Students agreed that the content was stimulating, relevant, and enjoyable and that learning outcomes were achieved. They reported greater awareness of the benefit of clinicians engaging in care of the "whole person" rather than "the disease." Contributions of other professions to the healing process were acknowledged, and students felt better equipped for discussion of spiritual issues with patients. Many identified examples of activities which could be incorporated into core teaching to benefit all medical students. Conclusion: The SSC provided relevant active learning opportunities for medical students to receive training in a whole-person approach to patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]