The Secular Physician and the Religious Patient: Overcoming Religious Discordance in the Clinical Setting

Deciding how best to respond to a patient’s spiritual devotion can raise complex ethical challenges. This is particularly true for medical students and residents who may have little formal training in the area of religion and spirituality. This article explores the challenges inherent to the encounter between a secular physician or medical trainee and a religious patient. A clinical vignette is used to highlight common mistakes made by medical trainees and to suggest more optimal communication strategies when these trainees deal with a patient who raises religious issues. First, the medical trainee or professional can follow the patient’s lead in delving into how these issues shape their decisions about medical care. Second, by appreciating the limits of their training and role, physicians can appropriately listen, ask questions, and explore the patient’s feelings in a manner that avoids “converting” patients, engaging in theologi cal discourse, or inviting patients to partake in religious rituals. Third, physicians need to uphold their integrity and not engage in actions that infringe upon their own spiritual or religious views.