Hi, I'm Henry Bear.

And I'm Tyler Johnson.

And you're listening to The Doctors Art, a podcast that explores meaning in medicine.

Throughout our medical training and career, we have pondered, what makes medicine meaningful?

Can a stronger understanding of this meaning create better doctors?

How can we build healthcare institutions that nurture the doctor-patient

connection? What can we learn about the human condition from accompanying our patients in times of

suffering? In seeking answers to these questions, we meet with deep thinkers working across health

care, from doctors and nurses to patients and health care executives, those who have collected

a career's worth

of hard-earned wisdom.

Probing the moral heart that beats at the core of medicine, we will hear stories that are by turns

heartbreaking, amusing, inspiring, challenging, and enlightening.

We welcome anyone curious about why doctors do what they do.

Join us as we think out loud about what illness and

healing can teach us about some of life's biggest questions.

Many patients interpret their illness through the lens of their religious tradition.

Sometimes this process brings hope, comfort, or growth, but other times it compounds their suffering.

What are patients supposed to do when they don't see their lives reflected in the religious stories they cherish?

And how can physicians recognize and respond to spiritual suffering that is layered on top of the physical?

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Jonathan Winkle, clinical assistant professor at the University

of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

...