New Jersey

Asbury Park Press, Horses for Healers

Asbury Park Press, Horses for Healers

HILLSBOROUGH - Lessley Chiriboga was a long way from the pressure cooker of medical school when she tried to coax a stubborn horse named Dane to follow her lead. She considered her posture and tone of voice. She tried to breathe normally. And she looked for clues from the horse that she was connecting. (Michael Diamond Reporting, Asbury Park Press, April 2016)

Rutgers Today, Horses for Healers

Horses for Healers has been an ongoing elective course for medical students at UMDNJ, RWJMS and Rutgers Medical School since 2012. Every year the roster fills up where M3/M4 students spend a couple of days with HORSES to learn the authenticity of body language (nonverbal communication) and how that parlays toward bedside manner and patient rapport. April 2015, Hillsborough, New Jersey.

"Horses for Healers" at Spring Reins of Hope uses horses to teach Rutgers medical students how to be better doctors. Through non-verbal communication, horses read body language and respond to students, giving them immediate feedback on whether they feel safe and approachable - two things that research shows are very important to medical outcomes.