EDUCAÇÃO MÉDICA EM SAÚDE E ESPIRITUALIDADE: RELATO DE EXPERIÊNCIA DA UNIVERSIDADE À PRÁTICA CLÍNICA NO BRASIL

Abstract

Spirituality has played a fundamental role in health care for centuries. Despite this, the philosophical movements of the 18th and 19th centuries and the technological advances of the early 20th century forged a reductionist model of health. Aiming to rescue the spiritual roots of Medicine, given the scarcity of humanistic elements in patient care, academics and medical professionals have encouraged research on the spiritual dimension of health, since the end of the last century. Also, during this period, started the movement of medical education on spirituality at universities. In Brazil, however, the academic involvement still faces limitations. For this reason, it is important to invest in the production of knowledge that corroborates scientific evidence in Brazil. In this sense, the current experience report aims to share, through a descriptive study, the learnings of doctors who had their professional qualifications positively impacted by the foundation of an Academic League of Health and Spirituality (LASE). The period covered by this report spanned from the year in which the League was created, 2017, to 2024, date that marks the two years following the doctors' graduation. Recounting their trajectory over the past eight years, the former founders of LASE detailed the actions they were part of, promoting teaching and research in health and spirituality, with subsequent application of the knowledge acquired in clinical practice. Thus, from published works and presentations at Congresses and the organization of events at University, to the dialogue on the spiritual needs of patients in the contexts of Primary Health Care (PHC) and Emergency services, the doctors adopted the approach of spirituality as an inseparable part of the health-disease process, contributing to the construction of new knowledge, legitimized by scientific evidence.