Religion and Spirituality in Health and Medical Education Batswana Medical Practitioners’ Views
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Keywords
Bible, Health, Medical Education, Religion, Spirituality, Theosomatic Medicine
Abstract
This paper discusses Batswana medical practitioners’ views on the impact of religion and spirituality on health and medical education. The paper relies on the fieldwork research findings on the impact of beliefs on health seeking and health provision behaviors in Botswana. Additionally, the paper is a product of internationally published literature sources on the importance of religion and spirituality in healthcare provision. In terms of methodology, the paper used a variety of data sources. Primary data was collected through fieldwork using questionnaire and interview guides as instruments for collecting data. Secondly, a desktop approach was used for collecting secondary data. Documentary analysis and review of varied literature sources also produced data for this paper. The paper established that religion and spirituality are essential aspects of patients’ life which ought to be addressed by medical practitioners during healthcare provision in Botswana. These are part of alternative medicine important for holistic healing of illness. The study found out that spirituality and religion should be part of medical education in Botswana.
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