Reclaiming the Heart and Soul of Medicine consists of three intensive workshops presented over a calendar year and repeated annually. Each workshop is a four day retreat at Commonweal's coastal site, beginning on a Thursday late afternoon and concluding with Sunday lunch. To learn more about these workshops, click here. The curriculum is designed to serve practicing and teaching physicians. Each workshop is a conversation among participants that continues for four days.
Group size is kept small, each workshop enrolling eight to ten physicians.
In addition to dialogue, the learning model draws on the theories and techniques of such diverse fields as humanistic and transpersonal psychology, theology, Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, imagery, the fine arts, and the great tradition of the art of medicine. In addition to the more formal curriculum, each day begins with an hour and a half of yoga, and ample time is allowed for reflection, meditation, journal writing and informal contact. The experiential learning in the group sandtray is central to the discovery process of the curriculum. Participants may also schedule a massage or Reiki treatment during the retreat. The Commonweal retreat site encompasses 100 acres of National Park land at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, an hour north of San Francisco.