This research program aims to understand if integrating those who are trained in medical intuition could support clinicians in their process to support optimal health for patients. The study has two main areas of investigation; first, are those trained to be medical intuitives gaining accurate insights and information? Could this be useful in identifying root causes of symptoms, determining what to address in a patient’s health first, and selecting the best tests or labs? Second, if useful and accurate information is able to be gleaned from this process, what would it look like to integrate medical intuitives to support doctors in our current medical system?
This was investigated through a series of three surveys and two Zoom appointments. First a Pre-Study survey gathered sentiments of health and healthcare relationships by both patients and doctors. Next, a 30-minute telehealth Zoom session with just the doctor as a ‘usual care visit’ served as a control. The second survey completed after this session looked at whether just having more time together one-on-one was helpful. Next, a 45-minute Zoom session was held with the doctor, patient, and a medical intuitive. The medical intuitive was blinded, meaning they had no idea who they would meet on Zoom until the time of the meeting, and the patients kept their Zoom cameras off. Intuitives took the lead on these sessions without any hints about the patient’s ailments and would share what they were picking up intuitively, from a distance, about the patients. This included physical as well as emotional contributions to their symptomatology. The final survey after this session investigated the accuracy and helpfulness of the insights the medical intuitive provided to the patient and clinician.
The results of these surveys are being compared across each patient’s three surveys, as well as the doctor’s three surveys for each patient. From these results we aspire to understand if medical intuition is legitimate, insightful, and supportive to doctors’ clinical process.
