Jan Bonhoeffer, MD, comes across as a spiritual physician, one who knows all the exactitudes of the medical profession, but thinks it has profoundly lost its way.
Bonhoeffer is a pediatrician at the University Children’s Hospital in Basel, Switzerland. In 2015, he realized the training he received at medical school did not prepare him to experience true healing moments with patients. As a result, Bonhoeffer founded Heart Based Medicine, a global network of healthcare professionals exploring the natural healing potential of the healthcare provider and the patient. Last year, Bonhoeffer published a book on his new approach to medicine and healing.1
Hospital Employee Health spoke to Bonhoeffer about his search for a healing path back to the patient, which was inspired partly by an epiphany he experienced with a comatose child. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.