Sacred Practice is taking a break for the summer! Check back in the fall for updates.
Sacred Practice is a free, monthly online symposium where learners and practitioners in medicine, theology, nursing, clinical pastoral education, social work, and other health care education programs discuss the intersection of spirituality and health.
These one-hour symposia begin with a brief spiritual practice to help center all participants. Next, a participant reads a two-page case study that describes a healthcare-related situation in which spirituality and health issues are prominent. After the case is read, small groups meet in breakout rooms to discuss their personal and professional perspectives on the case. In the end, the whole group meets again to report out on themes that emerged in their discussions.
The program’s overarching purpose is to improve health (spiritual, mental, and physical) in our communities by increasing collaboration between health care leaders and spiritual leaders. By bringing together learners and practitioners from theology, medicine, nursing, clinical pastoral education, and other health care education programs, this program addresses collaboration at the formation level. By reflecting together in the presence of other professionals, participants learn to appreciate and understand the different frameworks and goals operating in different professions.
The specific aims of this program align with the four core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice:
Work with individuals of other professions to maintain a climate of mutual respect and shared values.
Use the knowledge of one’s own role and those of other professions to appropriately assess and address the health care needs of patients and to promote and advance the health of populations.
Communicate with patients, families, communities, and professionals in health and other fields in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a team approach to the promotion and maintenance of health and the prevention and treatment of disease.
Apply relationship-building values and the principles of team dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles to plan, deliver, and evaluate patient/population centered care and population health programs and policies that are safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable.
Sacred Practice is an online symposium that occurs over Zoom.
Learners and practitioners in medicine, theology, nursing, clinical pastoral education, social work,
and other health care education programs are welcome to attend from anywhere in the world.
Sacred Practice is led by:
The Rev. David Fleenor, Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education at Stony Brook Medicine.
Dr. Su Yon Pak, Senior Director and Associate Professor of Integrative & Field-Based Education at the Union Theological Seminary.
Dr. Michele Gourley, Chaplain and Medical Educator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.