SPOTLIGHT: Should doctors bring faith to medical treatment?

According to one researcher, about two-thirds of U.S. medical schools now offer some form of training on religion and spirituality in medicine. Other researchers--with support from NIH grants--are studying the effect of third-party prayers on cancer patients. Some doctors are even calling for clinicians to take a "spiritual history" when they examine patients. But is this appropriate? Probably not, given the weak scientific evidence for a connection between religious practice and better health, contends Dr. Richard Sloan, director of the behavioral medicine program at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. "These are matters for patients, their families and the ordained clergy," Sloan argues. Column

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