Being secular in medical school
Started by Funny_Current
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I think this is a fundamental understanding that anyone engaging in these types of discussions should keep in mind. I think it's actually the definitive line between being religious or atheist. Belief, or faith, doesn't require one to have evidence to believe in a higher deity. On the other hand, reproducible evidence obtained from hypotheses put through the scientific method is concrete, and some people prefer to understand life that way.
What OP is looking for is a humanism group, there's an ocean of ethical and philosophical questions in medicine that, if lacking the protection of science, religions try to grab a monopoly on. In my experience the most religious students are the ones whose critical thinking and judgement you'll end up questioning for related or unrelated reasons.
And as far as saying "religions can fully prove, atheists can fully disprove, so it cancels out" comments, I disagree. There is enough we understand, not just in science but more so of history and human culture, to firmly say all of the major religions are man made. Yet all of the religions are usually represented in student organizations, so why not a group to discuss and promote humanity for humanity's sake?
And as far as saying "religions can fully prove, atheists can fully disprove, so it cancels out" comments, I disagree. There is enough we understand, not just in science but more so of history and human culture, to firmly say all of the major religions are man made. Yet all of the religions are usually represented in student organizations, so why not a group to discuss and promote humanity for humanity's sake?
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I was actually concerned about the opposite really; bias, at least in the admissions process, about even mentioning anything about religion. While I presently don't attend church or consider myself "religious" any longer, I was at one point ordained by the SBA as a minister and worked as an associate pastor at a sizable church. I have always intended to leave that information out of my application for fear some hyper atheist adcom would raise their bony finger in judgement and say; "petty fool, you ever believed in a higher being? you shall not pass into the hallowed halls of our godless institution" 
Let's not get all war on Christmas-y in here. Plenty of people put mission trips and religious ECS on their Apps and get into medical school. Last I checked there were plenty of schools that had overt missions infused with religion, Jesuit,born again, Hebrew etc. There is not a single atheist school. Put it on your app if it meaningful to you and if you are OK about talking about it. I would steer clear of outing atheism on an app because of it not being a mainstream " religious" affiliation.I was actually concerned about the opposite really; bias, at least in the admissions process, about even mentioning anything about religion. While I presently don't attend church or consider myself "religious" any longer, I was at one point ordained by the SBA as a minister and worked as an associate pastor at a sizable church. I have always intended to leave that information out of my application for fear some hyper atheist adcom would raise their bony finger in judgement and say; "petty fool, you ever believed in a higher being? you shall not pass into the hallowed halls of our godless institution"
just dont wear your fedora in the OR and you should be fine
No one cares. Start the org if you want to. Just don't blabber in a classmate's face about why their religion sucks/why your beliefs are right. If anything, the people that I've met in med school have seemed to be much more leaning towards the agnostic/atheistic side of things than the religious side of things - aka, no one cares what you believe - just don't be an ass about it.
Yep, to be an atheist is to simply be without a belief in God or a higher power. It does not necessarily mean anti-theist. I insist on calling myself an atheist because that exactly describes what I believe. I then clear up any misunderstandings in the conversation about what it means to be an atheist. I totally get that a person's religion/ worldview/ belief system is vital and I enjoy the beauty that is found in many different religions.
Personally, I simply cannot hold a literal belief in the supernatural.
Sounds like a boring club to me. What will you talk about?
That said, I assume > 50% of my classmates are atheist so we don't need a club to chat about it. I'm always surprised whenever any scientist (including doctors) is religious. Makes me question their judgement.
Probably will get flagged, OH NO!
That said, I assume > 50% of my classmates are atheist so we don't need a club to chat about it. I'm always surprised whenever any scientist (including doctors) is religious. Makes me question their judgement.
Probably will get flagged, OH NO!
OMG. People get flagged for being rude, not just for having opinions. Don't malign the mods. They do a good job of keeping peace, despite the fact that this community has simultaneously more neurosis and ego per poster than probably anywhere else on the net.
Ha. The irony of saying OMG in this thread. Then again, this week, I said "Inshallah" aka "If God wills it" to a Muslim classmate. She needed to hear that someone understood her perspective and her particular concerns, and using a single word from her faith did more to communicate that to her in a compassionate way than any lengthy speech could ever have done. It doesn't matter that I'm an agnostic idolator with a strong preference for secularity in professional settings. It was a word, and it conveyed what I wanted it to do.
The point of the story is that as long as our intent is to be kind to one another, even where we definitely don't share views, we can manage to get along and be useful to one another. And really, what more secular value is there than that?
Grappling with the human condition and asking questions of life without the crutch of bronze age religions is boring? How about promoting science and humanism in medicine? Hopefully most med students will continue to be rational enough where a group like this isn't really needed, but religious fundamentalism and quackery will always be trying to sneak into medicine.
You're really overthinking it
I've actually met few Christians who believe in young earth creationism. I myself am pretty spiritual and consider myself a Christian, but I am also scientific. Being Christian is not necessarily incompatible with science. Apocryphal beliefs about a young earth are.
This isn't unique to Christians or even to religion. Plenty of who we consider to be brilliant scientists have clung to misguided or incorrect beliefs simply because of an unwillingness to evaluate their beliefs.
Very true - I feel like a quick instinct of even scientists is to ridicule when someone suggests something new and radical (provided the suggestion is thought out and possibly supported by some pieces of data).
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It's the elephant. When you believe something is true, all the evidence in the world won't convince you otherwise if you let yourself have an emotional attachment to it. Doctors refused to believe for decades that smoking causes cancer.
Unless you're going to a religiously affiliated medical school, I don't think it will matter. And even that is unlikely. There might not be an explicit student group, but I'm sure you will find some like-minded students.
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Structurally, I can't imagine my atheism being a problem for me. I won't be applying to religious schools and even in religious areas nobody particularly cares so long as you aren't wearing your atheism like a badge....
More personally, it's taken me a longer time as an atheist to develop meaningful reasons (beyond interest/enjoyment) for wanting to do medicine, because I don't have weekly service to help me put my decisions/viewpoint into these reasons. But this doesn't really pertain to difficulties in med school because of atheism.
More personally, it's taken me a longer time as an atheist to develop meaningful reasons (beyond interest/enjoyment) for wanting to do medicine, because I don't have weekly service to help me put my decisions/viewpoint into these reasons. But this doesn't really pertain to difficulties in med school because of atheism.
