Is it approriate to talk about how religoin has affected u?

[Guest religion]

In general when writing med admissions, it it appropriate to talk about religion and its signifigance in your life?

 

Half of me is saying that I should put it in....the other is telling me that it could perhaps create a conflict of interest, bias, prejuduce....any ideas here?

[Guest 2006 med student]

A friend of mine is extremely religious, and this was the focal point of his application - how he discovered religion, how it changed him, how it influences his decisions, etc.. While he did get accepted into medical school, it wasn't without an extremely tough and rigorous interview process. The interviewers really grilled him about contraversial topics (with respect to Catholic faith) such as abortion, birth control for teenage girls, premarital sex, etc.. They asked him how he would handle such situations given the conflict between his religious convictions and his job.

 

I don't think that talking about religion is anything that is wrong or should cause much worry in the application process (if it's a big part of your life, how can you pretend that it's not??), but one thing to keep in mind is that as a physician, you have to be objective and open minded. A lot of times you face situations which are contrary to your own principles and morals, but you can't let that get in the way of sound decision making and patient treatment. I would certainly say to go ahead and talk about religion in your applications, but to emphasize that you are also open minded when it comes to dealing with patient scenarios.

[Guest gucio93]

One of the candidates interviewed this year was a Catholic priest who wanted to become a physician in order to be able to provide palliative care to his elderly patients in addition to providing spiritual healing. He had no intention of leaving the priesthood and he made that clear, he just wanted to be able to serve his paritioners in a more holistic way. He was very impressive in the interview and I truly hope he was admitted. What I'm saying is that if religion is such a big part of your life, you will be selling yourself short if you leave it out of the application. But I agree that you need to be mindful of ethical conflicts that may arise and be upfront about how you think you would handle them.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

The guy I billeted with when interviewing at Western was a devout Lutheran, and while I don't think he centered his application around his faith, knowing him I'm sure he wasn't afraid to avoid the topic. He got in. If you want to talk about it, do.

[Guest Tiny]

I know that talking and being very devoted to Christian religions is accepted ie Prodestant, Catholic, but what about other religions such as Muslim/Hindu/Sikh etc. While I am very devoted to my religion, I didn't dedicate my application around strictly religious issues. However when I did discuss religion during the interviews I was met with alot of disagrement. At Queens the community member said "Is that the same religion as Osama Bin Laden?" just what we need a terrorist doctor and the Facutly lauged about it (I wanted to leave at that point knowing my chances were nill). Another female friend of mine said she heard the faculty whisper to the student "Can't she take that thing off her head for the interview at least??"This sort of behaviour was delt with at other schools, although not to this extreme.

 

So, in my experience and the experience of several others I know, there is more respect and acceptance of "traditional" Western religious people and you may be met with some conflict and unacceptance if you speak of Eastern religions. Of course many moderators will say this not the case but I know first hand from experience that many of my friends and myself exerienced alot of resistence and questions/rolling eyes regarding the value and usefulness of our faith.

 

 

Good Luck

I'll see you all at UofTmeds this fall

[Guest client]

Tiny,

Could you please email me at client1975@yahoo.ca

What you wrote is very intriguing and relates to my own situation and I would like to ask you more about your experience.

Thanks very much for your help.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Wow! That hasn't been my experience at all! Yes, my previous post was in reference to a protestant christian (Lutheran, I believe) but we also have devout Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Jews, Atheists, and Agnostics in our class. In fact, if anything, I've found people to be almost more devoutly religious in Medical school than in undergrad, where religion was a taboo subject. I can hardly believe someone interviewing at Queen's would say that. . . sounds like it might be a case of misinterpretation. If they did in fact say something like that in the context of a medical school interview, I'm pretty sure they'd be in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (which you can't legally act on unless a LAW is unjust) and the ?Ontario Bill of Human Rights?. Sorry, I can't remember the exact name of that last legal bil, I remember covering that document in law class in grade 11, but if they were in fact in violation of that bill you can take legal action.

[Guest Tiny]

thanks for the response. I do agree it is really unfortunate but this sort of thing exists in the "outside" world, I just hoped it didn't have a home in medicine but I was wrong (and I really wish I wasn't).

 

I know that from a legal standpoint there are obvious issues with what took place but I don't know if I want to start an uproar as I enter medschool. I don't want to blackball myself in the medical community, I know this may sound selfish but I worked so hard to get here, I don't want to rock the boat so to speak.

 

Again on the legal issue (its amazing how useful grade 11 law can be ), If I complained of the incident or compiled a list of things that happened to others, it would be rejected as hearsay unless someone else in the room is willing to act as witness, which I doubt would happen (who wants to create problems for their own school).

 

Thanks though, maybe I'll see you on the wards some day!

 

Tiny

[Guest UWOMED2005]

BTW - I wasn't actually suggesting legal action, I was just pointing out that discrimination on such grounds is illegal under the Ontario Human Bill of Rights. (once again, I might have the incorrect name of that document!)

 

See you on rounds.