Pediatricians should be aware of the cultural issues surrounding body image when they counsel certain patients and their parents about the importance of weight loss and the related health concerns.
Medical students and residents should be taught clear principles to help them educate families about their children's nutritional requirements from the age of birth in order to prevent childhood obesity.
The Culture, Narrative, and Medicine course at Loyola University of Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine teaches cultural humility through literature and students' reflective writing.
Research studies on the influence of spirituality on health are still immature but have still made strides in advancing physicians' understanding of the issues.
Physicians face a conflict between desiring to cure a patient of his or her psychiatric illness and recognizing that the cure will take away from the patient's purpose in life.