Body and soul: When faith guides a doctor's vocation

Some physicians embrace dual careers in medicine and religion.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Dec. 24/31, 2007.

Anecdotal reports suggest that there are several hundred physicians who are both religious leaders and medical doctors. They see a connection between the physical world of medicine and the spiritual world of faith, a perspective that can cross into the exam room.

This may be a positive quality for patients, said Farr A. Curlin, MD, an internal medicine assistant professorcq at the University of Chicago whose research focuses on spirituality and medicine.

"The training in pastoral care and theology gives a physician a unique set of communication skills and sensitivity to spiritual issues," Dr. Curlin said. It allows these physicians to make better connections with patients.

Here is a glimpse of how an Episcopal priest, a rabbi and a Muslim cleric navigate their faith and their medical practices.

Daniel Hall, MD, MDiv, MHSc, finished residency this year and is an assistant surgery professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

He is also ordained in the Episcopal faith and is a priest in residence at First Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh. The Episcopal and Lutheran churches recognize each other's ordained clergy. He preaches every fifth Sunday, and on other Sundays he reads Scriptures or leads prayers. He also is involved in adult education there.

Dr. Hall sees his pastoral and theological training as assets and wants to integrate them into his medical practice. He is conscious of the ethical issues raised by offering to pray with patients or to discuss their spiritual beliefs. But his goal is to help patients come to terms with serious illness, not to convert them.