Dr. Farr Curlin, a researcher at the University of Chicago's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, has just completed a "heavenly" study. Curlin, who is both a doctor and an instructor, worked with a team of doctors to survey 1,125 U.S. physicians to determine their believe in God, an afterlife and the influence that one's religious beliefs has on how they practice medicine.

The survey used a 12-page questionnaire mailed to a random sample of 2,000 U.S. practicing physicians.

63 percent responded to one of three mailings.

Spirituality and Healing Go Hand-in-Hand

Dr. Curlin said in reaction to their findings:

We have paid a good deal of attention to the religious beliefs of patients and how their faith influences medical decisions, but until now no one has looked in the same way at physicians, the other half of every doctor-patient relationship.

These findings lead us to further wonder how doctors' faiths shape their clinical encounters.

We were surprised to find that physicians were as religious as they apparently are.

There is certainly a deep-seated cultural idea that science and religion are at odds.

We suspect that people who combine an aptitude for science with an interest in religion and an affinity for public service are particularly attracted to medicine.

The responsibility to care for those who are suffering, and the rewards of helping those in need, resonate throughout most religious traditions.

The report also found that 90 percent of doctors said they attend religious services at least occasionally.

Previous studies suggested that fewer than half of scientists believe in God.

Of the 1,125 doctors surveyed this year, 76% said they believe in God.

Almost 60% of the participants said they believe in some sort of afterlife.

And 55% said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.

Five percent of the doctors surveyed are Hindus, 2 percent are Muslims and 1 percent are Buddhists.

Physicians are 26 times more likely to be Hindu than the overall U.S. population (5.3% of doctors vs. 0.2% of non-physicians).

Doctors are seven times more likely to be Jewish (14.1% vs. 1.9%), six times more likely to be Buddhist (1.2% vs. 0.2%) and five times more likely to be Muslim (2.7% vs. 0.5%).

Dr. Curlin describes himself as an "orthodox Christian in the Protestant tradition."

The results of his team's survey are expected to appear in the July 2005 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The study says, "Physicians are more likely to describe themselves as 'spiritual' as distinct from religious, whereas for the general population, spirituality and religion appear to be more tightly connected."

Curlin's next effort? To begin to look at how a doctors' religious (or secular) beliefs and values might influence the way they care for patients.

The Greenwall Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program funded the study.

In addition to Dr. Farr Curlin, other authors include John Lantos, M.D.; Chad Roach, B.S.; Sarah Sellergren, M.A.; and Marshall Chin, M.D., M.P.H., all from the University of Chicago.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "guidance from above" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC