Dr. Uday Jani to speak on medicine’s spiritual roots July 21 at St. Peter’s

The spirit must be included when doctors treat people today for medical conditions, says Dr. Uday Jani who will explore the spiritual side of healthcare when he speaks at St. Peter's Episcopal Church parish hall, 221 Mulberry St., Lewes, Thursday, July 21, at 7 p.m.

"We must not say, 'What's your problem? Here's a pill,'" says the Milton physician, a board-certified internist, who a few years ago completed a two-year fellowship under Dr. Andrew Weil, the renowned founder of integrated medicine. The fellowship has achieved international recognition as the leading integrative medical education program in the world.

"Treating the whole patient - physical, emotional, social - must also include spiritual issues," says Jani. His presentation, as part of the 14-week St. Peter's Summer Spirituality Series, will explain why this often neglected factor is integral to the practice of today's best medical care.

"While technology has led to phenomenal advances and the ability to prolong life, it has also resulted in a shift from a caring, service‐oriented model to a more cure‐oriented one," Jani says. "Before modern times, spirituality was considered a crucial component of health care. It's only in the past few decades that physicians have attempted to begin to balance this by restoring medicine's original spiritual roots.

"Research suggests that more than 75 percent of patients would like doctors to discuss spiritual issues as part of their care," he says, "yet only 10 to 20 percent of physicians do so. But interest in incorporating spirituality into the practice of medicine is now growing rapidly," he says, pointing to a study in 2014 that showed that more than 75 percent of U.S. medical schools are now incorporating spirituality topics into the curricula, compared to only a handful in 1993.

One of integrative medicine's greatest strengths, says Jani, has always been the continued emphasis on understanding the patient's social, cultural and psychological environment, and how spirituality connects to all. "Spirituality is an important, multidimensional aspect of the human experience that may be difficult to fully understand or measure using the scientific method, yet convincing evidence in the medical literature supports its beneficial role in the practice of medicine."

Jani says that physicians need to address and be attentive to all suffering experienced by their patients, beyond just the physical. "Healing occurs within that caring connection formed when physicians truly listen to what their patients are saying and develop therapeutic plans that reflects those individuals' hopes, fears and beliefs."

Jani's private practice is Shore View Personal Care, 28312 Lewes Georgetown Hwy. For information, call 302-684‐0990 or go to www.udayjanimd.com.

On July 28, Barbara Barski-Carrow will speak on healing from trauma and the resilience of spirit. She is an expert on treating individuals who are returning to the workplace after suffering from intense trauma. A discussion and social time with ice cream follow each presentation.

For a list of speakers in the Summer Spirituality Series that continues until Sept. 2, go to www.stpeterslewes.org.