When it comes to religion and medicine, much of the research so far has focused on how discussions of faith affect patients, but a new effort out of the University of Chicago examines more closely how doctors' spirituality affects their practice of and satisfaction with medicine.
According to a survey of 2,000 U.S. physicians conducted by program leaders Farr Curlin, M.D., and Daniel Sulmasy, M.D., nine out of 10 clinicians claim a religious affiliation, PhysOrg reported, while more than half of responding physicians also agreed with the statement, "My religious beliefs influence my practice of medicine."
"The big issue is whether a physicians' religion should be seen as a threat to their medical practice or a resource ... we want to ask how medicine can be construed as a spiritual vocation," Curlin said. "To think of medicine that way is to look for how physicians might practice medicine in ways that are congruent with and animated by their spiritual beliefs and practices."
The program, which will launch this May with a $2.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, will enroll four faculty scholars each year for a two-year program of studying the role religion plays in a physician's practice. Participants will examine how Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other spiritual traditions influence a physician's beliefs, decisions and satisfaction with their profession.
According to Curlin and Sulmasy, doctors who set their faith aside entirely to focus on objective science can have a harder time managing the stress of medicine and even perform less effectively. When doctors are dispirited, the care they give to patients is worse," Curlin told the Chicago Tribune.
The hope is that by addressing the issue at the medical school level, physicians will enter practice prepared to balance faith and medicine in a way that is right for them.
Julie Oyler, an evangelical Christian, is an example of a physician who had to develop this skill the hard way. Years after being told to remove the cross she wore on the lapel of her white coat in medical school, she explained to the Chicago Tribune that today, while still not "advertising" her faith, she does establish during the initial appointment what role religion plays in her patients' lives and how it will play into decisions going forward. "I have patients I have prayed with and made faith part of their medical therapy because we've found common ground from the beginning," Oyler said.
To learn more:
- read the article from the Chicago Tribune
- see the story from PhysOrg