Unique minor teaches future healthcare professionals compassionate care
When we enter a doctor’s office for an appointment – whether for a checkup, an illness, therapy, or treatment – we want to be treated with respect and made to feel important. Put another way: we want to be seen and heard by those providing our care.
Compassionate Care: a Minor with Impact
At Saint Francis University, future healthcare providers have the opportunity to learn how to handle the emotional aspect of healthcare each time they enter a patient’s room. Grounded in the Franciscan Tradition, the unique minor in Compassionate Care prepares students to treat the patient rather than the disease by communicating openly and honestly about their health or illness.
Dr. Arthur Remillard, chair of the Department of Franciscan Studies, Theology, and Applied Ethics , who oversees this minor, says that the research shows that compassion has a meaningful and measurable influence on healthcare delivery. Through that supporting research, students can learn to become more compassionate healthcare providers, treating their patients with dignity, respect, and understanding.
Curriculum Overview
Students looking to earn a minor in Compassionate Care are required to complete 18 credits in courses such as Healthcare Ethics, Compassionate Caregiving, Franciscan Goals for Today, Human Sexuality and Christian Marriage, as well as elective courses such as Death and Dying, Gerontology, History of Medicine, Medical Sociology, and many others. The minor’s capstone is a service-learning project of the student’s choosing, which intersects with caregiving in a meaningful way. Taken together, the coursework provides future healthcare providers with the knowledge and experience they will need to do their jobs in the best way possible – by treating each patient like they are valued and important.
If you are interested in pursuing the Compassionate Care Minor at Saint Francis University, contact Dr. Arthur Remillard or your admissions counselor for additional details.