Jewish physicians in the Bay Area soon will get a chance to do some needed mending of their own souls.
The Bay Area Jewish Healing Center in San Francisco has started a spiritual support group for doctors who want to share inner feelings and establish more of a sense of sacredness in their practices.
“Every physician I’ve ever talked to goes into medicine because of a kind of spiritual fascination with what it means to heal,” said Rabbi Eric Weiss, a leader of the group, which began meetng last night.
However, medical school tends to turn prospective doctors away from that perspective by focusing largely on the gross mechanics of the body, and not the overall functioning of a patient’s “mind, body and spirit,” he added.
Dr. Abby Caplin, who is the group’s co-facilitator, said: “The whole sense of the sacredness of the practice of medicine isn’t supported in our training; it’s practically beaten out of some of us.”
The program runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Dec. 2 at the healing center. Call (415) 750-4197 for information.
Doctors will get a chance to talk freely with one another and to consider borrowing or creating Jewish rituals to help them reconnect with the spiritual side of medicine, Caplan said.
“The real purpose of this group is to support ourselves as individuals on our spiritual path,” said Caplin, a former allergist now in training to become a therapist. “We’re not outcome oriented.”
While there is no set agenda, Weiss said some doctors may choose to incorporate rituals into their daily work schedule.
He pointed to one physician who takes comfort in reciting a silent prayer each time he washes his hands before seeing a patient.
For physicians, hand washing can become “very rote,” Weiss said. “Reciting for them the traditional prayer for hand washing is a way to give them a sense the person they’re seeing has a soul.”
The support group is open to all Jewish physicians, whether or not they’re affiliated with a congregation. The group will have a maximum of 10 participants.
The current practice of medicine can damage the psyches of both practitioners and patients, according to Caplin.
“Many doctors may feel disconnected from our patients and from each other. We’re competitors with each other, we’re technicians,” she said. “An uncentered, scattered kind of rushed doctor is not going to promote a very happy experience for a patient.”
The idea for the group emerged more than three years ago, when the healing center held a conference on Judaism and healing at Fort Mason. Small group discussions revealed that doctors experienced pain when they witnessed the suffering of patients and that many were frustrated and disappointed with the direction of medical-care delivery.
Out of that conference, about a dozen doctors began meeting monthly. “What it allowed them to do was really explore their spirituality in a way that brought them more into alignment with their initial call to become physicians,” Weiss said.
For instance, some of the doctors decided to “recognize the holiness of the tools they have as physicians” by writing their own prayers for the simple act of putting on their lab coats, fastening on pagers and slipping prescription pads in their pockets, Weiss said.
“One night we talked about what a stethoscope is,” Caplin recalled. Participants decided its purpose extended beyond merely counting heartbeats. “You’re actually not just listening to the ritual beats, you’re making contact with the patient and connecting,” she said.
Members also talked about how they could address spiritual issues with patients, in addition to diagnosing their well-being through the standard history and physical exam.
When the group disbanded last spring, members suggested setting up another, but this time on a short-term basis that would take busy schedules into account.
Doctors “can share our experiences, can share our personal side,” Caplin said. Hopefully, participants will “bring that sense of sacred work back into the office and the hospital.”