The Summer Project kicked off with a busy, five-day METS training conference at the beautiful Lake Arrowhead resort in Lake Arrowhead, California. Health care professionals and students gathered here to learn the value of whole-person patient care. Often, medical training merely calculates the physical aspect of a patient and thus renders the patient from only a uni-dimensional perspective. Whole person care argues that neglecting to see patients as multidimensional in their culture, family, beliefs, fears, and hopes results in inefficient and incomplete treatment.

Throughout the conference, seminars were discussed on how to ethically and professionally incorporate a patient's spiritual beliefs and sources of hope into the whole diagnosis of the patient. Lectures were given by various Christian physicians that already implement these principles in their own practice. Some of these lectures stressed the importance of the doctor's own spiritual walk with God. This can sometimes be a struggle amidst the daily pressures of study and work.

The final afternoon of the conference involved a clinical practicuum. This was a time to put what we learned into action. Those who attended the conference visited the Loma Linda University hospitals and practiced taking spiritual histories and as the Holy Spirit led, presented the Gospel. God worked his gracious miracles through us -- 25 of the 75 patients interviewed chose to accept Christ as their Savior and Lord.

The importance of mission and calling in medical practice not only empowers the health care worker to truly value the patient but also allows both to experience the power of the Gospel at work.