CONTEXT Major influences on learning about medical professionalism come from the hidden curriculum. These influences can contribute positively or negatively towards the professional enculturation of clinical students. The fact that there is no validated method for identifying the components of the hidden curriculum poses problems for educators considering professionalism. The aim of this study ...

Long-established rituals in preexisting cultural groups have been linked to the cultural evolution of group cooperation. We tested the prediction that novel rituals-arbitrary hand and body gestures enacted in a stereotypical and repeated fashion-can inculcate intergroup bias in newly formed groups. In four experiments, participants practiced novel rituals at home for 1 week (Experiments 1, 2, a...

Provision of culturally appropriate care for Hindus in care homes in the UK. Core Hindu beliefs are explained and the importance of worship, festivals, self care, diet and death rituals are examined. 19 refs. Source: BNI

Interest in the relationship between spirituality, religion, and clinical care has increased in the last 15 years, but clinicians need more concrete guidance about this topic. This article defines spirituality and religion, identifies the fundamental spiritual issues that serious illness raises for patients, and argues that physicians have a moral obligation to address patients' spiritual conce...

BACKGROUND Functional neck/shoulder stiffness is one of the most well-known indications for acupuncture treatment in Japan. There is little evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for functional neck/shoulder stiffness. Research using two different placebos may allow an efficient method to tease apart the components of real acupuncture from various kinds of 'non-specific' effect...

Bali is a fascinating island. Within one cultural sphere major contrasts exist side by side and form as such an ideal laboratory for anthropological research. Only a few hours drive from the centre of globalized tourism at Kuta beach, which was in October 2002 hit by a terrorist attack, one can find in the mountain area of inland Bali ancient temple systems and ritual networks which date back t...

We thank the commentators for their thoughtful remarks. We have arranged our responses to the commentators thematically; within each section we start first with general comments before discussing particular statements by individual commentators. We also thank the Journal of Medical Ethics for publishing our original manuscript, the accompanying commentaries, an editorial from the Journal staff,...