Holistic care: Bringing Soul Back to Medicine | Dr. Jonathan Weinkle

In this episode of Conversations in Science and Faith, Dr. Jonathan Weinkle shared how healthcare providers can navigate this sacred profession. 

Dr. Weinkle is an internal medicine and pediatric physician at a community-focused clinic, chairs the Executive Committee of the Conference on Medicine and Religion, and has authored multiple books on seeing patients as people above all.

Dr. Weinkle shares how his Jewish faith shapes a deeply relational approach to care, becoming a rofeh-yedid, a doctor-friend, to the patient. We explore “micro-ethics” in medicine: the small, everyday choices that protect dignity, and how practices like mussar (character development) cultivate humility, patience, and presence with patients.

Finally, he addresses the importance of end-of-life care and language about death, cultural humility in planning, and importance of not abandoning patients as illness progresses.

Dr. Weinkle closes with advice for future clinicians: remember the “doctor in the patient,” treat lived experience as real data alongside lab data, and help bring soul and compassion back into modern medicine.

If you're a student, trainee, or clinician seeking practical ways to heal with scientific rigor and faith-based humility, these conversations are for you.
 

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