Right Place

I have no problem with religion....well no problem that I can apply to this post. People can believe what they want, when they want as long as they keep it away from me. Faith, Religion and God even have a place in modern medicine, that place is in the waiting room.

There are more than a few people on my course (a very science heavy course) who are creationists, and believe that the universe was created 5000 years ago and the fossils are just a test of faith. There are other inappropriate beliefs going around the nursing and medical degrees at my university. At the end of the day this really scares me. If I have a patient under my care I use my knowledge of science, my understanding of the human body and my faith in my own abilities to treat them. Anyone who does the same is fine in my books, if they want to talk to their god(s) about it once they have dealt with the patient that is also fine. At some point there is going to be a scientologist applying for a medical or nursing degree, as this is a minority faith any university would be obliged to accept them. For those of you who arent familiar with this faith there are a number of ideas that I have no right to take exception to, what I do take exception to is the fact that they dont recognise a number of very common conditions. As far as they are concerned for example Autism isnt a real condition.

There is a time and a place for Religion, that place is not in the operating theatre or the ward, that place is the waiting room, or at home. If you are practising as a healthcare professional you are a scientist, to be anything else is negligent.