Religious Doctors Not More Likely to Care For Poor

According to a study published to be published in the July-August issue of the journal Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. , physicians who are more religious “do not appear to disproportionately care for the underserved.”

The stated purpose of the study was to determine whether physicians’ self-identification as “religious” was associated with their practice among what the study term the “underserved”, equating that term with “the poor and marginalized.’ Although the study also found that religious physicians were more likely to view their occupation as a calling, this view did not translate into a higher rate of service to the underserved. Underserved in regard to health services refers to populations that are disadvantaged because of inability to pay, limited access to care, and limited access to comprehensive health care. Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. is a publication of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)