title: Spirituality in medicine: a surgeon's perspective.
abstract: Technological advances over the past 50 years have contributed to change the focus of medicine from a caring, nurturing model to a technological, evidence-based, result-oriented model. Lost in this "Brave New World" of technology is the role of human spirituality. Just how ones' own faith and/or spiritual well-being affects ones' own health has only recently regained the attention of the medical community. Whether faith and spirituality, as independent factors, affect measurable outcomes in healthcare is certainly a difficult task to prove (or disprove, for that matter). This is especially true in the surgical specialties, where successes and failures are usually readily quite apparent.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery and Family Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
authors.forename: Guy R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Nicastri
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D029181:Spirituality; D066231:Surgeons
keywords: faith; health; outcomes; spirituality; surgery