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Religion in Organized Medicine: The AMA's Committee and Department of Medicine and Religion, 1961-1974.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kim, D; Curlin, F; Wolenberg, K; Sulmasy, D
Published in: Perspect Biol Med
2014

The history commonly told of the relationship between modern medicine and religion is one of steady, even inevitable, separation rooted in the Enlightenment. The divorce between medicine and religion, it is thought, had become nearly total before a recent surge of interest in the spiritual and religious dimensions of health care. This narrative, however, misjudges a persistent sense of spiritual need in illness that medical practice, even today, is unable to entirely ignore. Relying on primary sources, we recount here the little known story of the rise and fall of the Committee on Medicine and Religion and the Department of Medicine and Religion at the American Medical Association between 1961 and 1974. Arising in a context of a widely perceived dehumanization of care and the emergence of new ethical dilemmas at the bedside--concerns with significant parallels today--the initiative garnered striking physician enthusiasm and achieved dramatic successes nationally before coming to a puzzling end in 1972. We argue that its demise was linked to the AMA's contentious internal debate on abortion, and conclude with a note of caution regarding the status of normative concerns in medicine's ongoing efforts to address the spiritual and religious dimensions of its practices.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Perspect Biol Med

DOI

EISSN

1529-8795

Publication Date

2014

Volume

57

Issue

3

Start / End Page

393 / 414

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Religion and Medicine
  • Pregnancy
  • Narration
  • Interdisciplinary Communication
  • Humans
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Female
  • American Medical Association
  • Abortion, Induced
 

Citation

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MLA
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Kim, D., Curlin, F., Wolenberg, K., & Sulmasy, D. (2014). Religion in Organized Medicine: The AMA's Committee and Department of Medicine and Religion, 1961-1974. Perspect Biol Med, 57(3), 393–414. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2014.0025
Kim, Daniel, Farr Curlin, Kelly Wolenberg, and Daniel Sulmasy. “Religion in Organized Medicine: The AMA's Committee and Department of Medicine and Religion, 1961-1974.Perspect Biol Med 57, no. 3 (2014): 393–414. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2014.0025.
Kim D, Curlin F, Wolenberg K, Sulmasy D. Religion in Organized Medicine: The AMA's Committee and Department of Medicine and Religion, 1961-1974. Perspect Biol Med. 2014;57(3):393–414.
Kim, Daniel, et al. “Religion in Organized Medicine: The AMA's Committee and Department of Medicine and Religion, 1961-1974.Perspect Biol Med, vol. 57, no. 3, 2014, pp. 393–414. Pubmed, doi:10.1353/pbm.2014.0025.
Kim D, Curlin F, Wolenberg K, Sulmasy D. Religion in Organized Medicine: The AMA's Committee and Department of Medicine and Religion, 1961-1974. Perspect Biol Med. 2014;57(3):393–414.
Journal cover image

Published In

Perspect Biol Med

DOI

EISSN

1529-8795

Publication Date

2014

Volume

57

Issue

3

Start / End Page

393 / 414

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Religion and Medicine
  • Pregnancy
  • Narration
  • Interdisciplinary Communication
  • Humans
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Female
  • American Medical Association
  • Abortion, Induced