Abstract
Research shows that, today, spirituality is an important aspect of human life. The achievements made by the biomechanical model of teaching and practice of medicine were unable to overshadow the role that spirituality plays in the health-disease process. Following a trend occurring in medical schools throughout the world, the authors introduced at the Federal University of São Paulo the optional Spirituality and Medicine class, aimed at medical and nursing students and to promote the recognition of the spiritual dimension of the patient and, thus, afford more humane care. After four years of the course being offered, a qualitative study was carried out to determine the profile of the students who chose to take the class, their perception concerning the spirituality and health topic, and the importance attributed to the course when it comes to their personal, professional, and humanistic development. The texts produced by the students during the course were the main source of data. The data were interpreted through a hermeneutic phenomenology focus and highlighted the following issues: The search for the meaning of life; independence of views about God and spirituality and the importance given to the discipline; Spirituality and humanization, and spirituality, self-care and self-knowledge.
Keywords
Spirituality and health; health education; humanization