Curricular evaluation of teaching spirituality in Brazilian medical schools

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a dynamic state of complete physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being. However, the spiritual aspect is often neglected by physicians due to lack of knowledge, insufficient training, and discomfort when approaching the subject, which may be the result of the deficit in medical training. Considering spirituality as a determinant of health, this study aimed to analyze the offer of disciplines focused on the relationship between spirituality and health (H/O) in the curriculum of the Faculties of Medicine of Brazil, verifying possible correlations between access method, teaching methodology, quality of teaching, and region of the country. The research covered all medical schools in Brazil, collecting data on accreditation from the Ministry of Education (MEC), form of access, year of implementation of the course, score of the National Student Performance Exam (ENADE), and region of installation in the country. In addition, the pedagogical projects of the course and/or curricular matrix were analyzed regarding the offering of disciplines with spiritual content in terms of obligation, content, workload, and period of offer. Of the 346 colleges, only 77 (22.25%) offered courses that addressed I/O, being mainly public institutions (53.24%), with ENADE ≥3 (68.83%), located in the Southeast (33.77%) and Northeast (32.47%) regions, implemented from 2001 onwards (49.35%) and with traditional teaching methodology (48.05%). Regarding the content of the courses, only 50.65% addressed I/O in a specific and deep way, and 56.41% were elective. These results reveal the lack of structure and lack of standardization in the provision of I/O disciplines, signaling an insufficient adherence by medical schools to the recommendations of national and international organizations. In addition, it is important to note that the National Curriculum Guidelines (DCNs) do not explicitly address the importance of integrating spirituality into the undergraduate curriculum and medical practice, which may contribute to resistance or low adherence to this type of teaching in institutions. We conclude that there is a need to introduce spiritual education in Brazilian medical schools, with the implementation of a common curriculum seeking to improve spiritual formation in the medical field and provide the necessary skills to address this issue safely and effectively.