• Giancarlo Lucchetti, Alessandra Lamas Granero Lucchetti, Daniele Corcioli Mendes Espinha, Leandro Romani de Oliveira, José Roberto Leite, and Harold G Koenig.
• São Paulo Medical Spiritist Association, Av. Juriti 367, Apto 131, Moema, São Paulo, SP, CEP 04520-000, Brazil. g.lucchetti@yahoo.com.br
• BMC Med Educ. 2012 Jan 1; 12: 78.

BackgroundAccording to recent surveys, 59% of British medical schools and 90% of US medical schools have courses or content on spirituality and health (S/H). There is little research, however, on the teaching of S/H in medical schools in other countries, such as those in Latin America, Asia, Australia and Africa. The present study seeks to investigate the current status of teaching on S/H in Brazilian medical schools.MethodsAll medical schools in Brazil (private and public) were selected for evaluation, were contacted by email and phone, and were administered a questionnaire. The questionnaire, sent by e-mail, asked medical school directors/deans about any S/H courses that were taught, details about those courses, S/H lectures or seminars, importance of teaching this subject for medical school directors, and medical schools characteristics.ResultsA total of 86 out of 180 (47.7%) medical schools responded. Results indicated that 10.4% of Brazilian Medical Schools have a dedicated S/H courses and 40.5% have courses or content on spirituality and health. Only two medical schools have S/H courses that involve hands-on training and three schools have S/H courses that teach how to conduct a spiritual history. The majority of medical directors (54%) believe that S/H is important to teach in their schools.ConclusionFew Brazilian medical schools have courses dealing specifically with S/H and less than half provide some form of teaching on the subject. Unfortunately, there is no standard curriculum on S/H. Nevertheless, the majority of medical directors believe this issue is an important subject that should be taught.

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