A Conversation with Christina M. Puchalski, MD - Director, The George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health

Christina Puchalski, MD, MS, FACP, FAAHPM, is a pioneer and international leader in the movement to integrate spirituality into healthcare in clinical settings and medical education. As founder and director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish) and Professor of Medicine at The George Washington University in Washington, DC, she continues to break new ground in the understanding and integration of spiritual care in healthcare settings. These programs and‎ activities have encouraged the development of a patient-centered perspective. GWish is fostering‎ alliances globally to further this integration. She developed the FICA spiritual history tool which is widely ‎used in clinical settings. She is board certified in Palliative Care and Internal Medicine, ‎directs an interdisciplinary outpatient supportive and palliative clinic and is a Medical Hospice Director in Washington, DC.‎

Dr. Puchalski is widely published in journals with work ranging from biochemistry research to issues in ethics, culture, and spiritual care. She has authored numerous book chapters and published a book with Oxford University Press entitled Time for Listening and Caring: Spirituality and the Care of the Seriously Ill and Dying. She co-authored Making Health Care Whole with Dr. Betty Ferrell,‎ based on consensus work resulting in guidelines for interprofessional spiritual care. She is co-editor of an international textbook on spirituality and health published by Oxford University Press. Her work has been featured on numerous print and television media. Her scholarship focuses on palliative care, ‎spirituality and health and compassionate care as part of whole person health. She is recognized for her work in developing interdisciplinary educational curricula and innovated models of care. ‎