Can you be religious and be a doctor?

Although physicians are nearly as religious as the general population, their specific beliefs often differ from those of their patients. While more than 80 percent of patients describe themselves at Protestant or Catholic, only 60 percent of physicians come from either group.

What does the Bible say about being a doctor?

We should always seek help from God as well as going for appropriate medical treatment – not instead of doing so. In Matthew 9, the Pharisees asked Jesus why he spent time with sinners. He replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick’ (Matthew 9:12). Jesus recognised that sick people need doctors.

Should physicians respond to religious and spiritual matters in patient education?

Exposure to such training does not qualify physicians to respond to the often complex religious and spiritual matters that arise for patients when they are ill. Health care chaplains study for years to be qualified to discuss such matters with patients.

Should we bring religious practices into medicine?

Proponents of bringing religious practices into medicine frequently claim that patients want their physicians to inquire about their religious and spiritual concerns under the guise of more patient-centered care.

Why were religious institutions responsible for licensing physicians?

For hundreds of years, in fact, religious institutions were responsible for licensing physicians to practice medicine. In the American colonies, in particular, many of the clergy were also physicians—often as a second job that helped to supplement their meager income from church work.

Should doctors’ religious values supersede the best interests of patients?

It means not permitting personal values, religious or otherwise, to supersede the best interests of patients. As epidemiologist Petr Skrabanek noted, allowing doctors’ religious values to interfere with the care patients receive is “a social movement dressed up in scientific language” [8].