Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion (YPMSR): "Hope and Healing in Memphis”
Dr. Norris is the founder and executive director of Church Health, the largest faith-based privately funded healthcare organization in the United States. Founded in 1987 to treat the vulnerable communities of Memphis, Dr. Norris had recently been ordained in the United Methodist Church and completed his training in Family Medicine. In 2020, Church Health provided care for 13,200 patients with over 55,000 visits. Further info can be found here: https://churchhealth.org/about/history/
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The Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality & Religion is founded upon the belief that healing concerns the wellness of both the body and the spirit. We seek to understand the implications of religious practice, communal support, and intrinsic belief for the health and wellness. We are scholarly in focus, seeking evidence to discern how the worlds of medicine and religion impact one another. We are collaborative in spirit, reaching across Yale University and other institutions to foster dialogue and research.
As scholars and practitioners, we recognize the deep influence that religious and spiritual commitments have in medicine and illness. Religious and spiritual beliefs inform ethical choices, attitudes concerning death and grieving, approaches to suffering and illness, and commitments to justice and fairness. We seek diverse perspectives through collaboration with colleagues from divinity, chaplaincy, public health, legal, and medical communities.
Thus, the purpose of YPMSR is to:
- Foster dialogue about the relationship between religion, spirituality, and medicine among students and faculty at Yale University and beyond.
- Collaborate across departments and schools in the research of religion, spirituality, and medicine.
- Translate and disseminate the fruits of research in order to foster mutual understanding and to improve patient care.
To accomplish these goals, we host speakers throughout the academic year, sponsor a fellowship program for Yale students, and offer coursework at the graduate level.
If interested in our speaker series, consider joining our listserv. For further information, please contact our director Benjamin Doolittle, MD, via email or 203-785-7941.
Speaker
Church Health
G. Scott Morris, MD, MDivFounder and executive director