A Qualitative Investigation of the Beliefs and Internal Experiences of Mediums  Lisa Conboy , Pamela Hill; Guljan Nurmuradova; Nguyet-Nga Wolverton; Mark Boccuzzi; Julie Beischel (Gastroenterology, BIDMC-Harvard Medical School, Watertown, MA )   P1

Mediums are defined as people who report experiencing regular communication with the deceased. This qualitative analysis describes the responses of 119 self-identified mediums and 14 pre-screened Windbridge Certified Research Mediums (n=133) to five open-ended, free-response survey items regarding: factors that enhance or inhibit communication with the deceased, their explanations for why they are mediums, how their abilities developed, and how their cultural background as well as their spirituality relate to mediumship. Participants were surveyed between March and May, 2017. Not every participant answered every question. Over 90% of participants were white females; their average age was 54.2 +/- 9.6 years. With IRB oversight our team coded the responses by searching for sought themes and emergent themes and condensing responses to each topic across the sample. Responses were double coded and any disagreements were addressed and solved in discussion. Found themes with common examples will be reported. One meta theme found was that mediums are pretty normal, most relying on their religion for strength and supporting their practice with meditation. Many were supported in their mediumship as young people, but just as frequently, they were not. The normalcy of mediums themselves suggests that such abilities may be found relatively frequently in the general population. Further, these results assist in a more thorough understanding of the specific experiences and beliefs of mediums. Our analysis is timely as the number of people seeking mediumship readings to address grief continues to grow.