Can a Priest work as a doctor?

  • Thread starter Thread starter deodate
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

deodate

Guest
I am 19 years old and have been given the divine opportunity to discern a calling to the priesthood. Growing up in high school I have liked the idea of medicine, maybe even psychiatry. I have just recently been researching religious orders, because I believe my calling is for a religious order. My question is, if I went through Med school and became some kind of doctor, could I still try and join the priesthood? Can I be a priest and work around the world and help people and pray for their souls and try and help others with mental illnesses and personal struggles? My heart is heavy and confused as to where God wants me?

Side note= My overall passion in life is learning languages which also ties into working abroad and spreading the word of God and also being help as a Doctor if God willed it to be.

God Bless and thank you for helping me through the difficult decisions in life!
 
I am not aware of any prohibitions on priests being both doctors of the soul and of the body. I do know priests cannot run for elected office, but that’s the only limitation I’m aware of, but I’m not particularly well-versed in the limitations on what secular employment priests can also undertake.

I would assume, however, that due to the fact that we are called to care for the sick by Christ, that being a doctor and a priest is doubly-awesome.

EDIT: I misread, I see you mention psychiatry, which is not the same, of course, as doctors of the physical body.

Nonetheless, I could foresee much good from a priest who knows how to be a good psychiatrist yet also will make sure their suggestions are in line with Christ’s teachings.
 
There used to be many priestly religious orders which were medically oriented, or had medical apostolates as part of their work. I’m sure there still are, especially in serving Third World countries. I’ll try to look some up for you. There are also friars who are medical doctors, I’m pretty sure; and I know there are sisters who are doctors.
 
Here’s a journal article about some history. It mentions Blessed Niels Stensen, the geologist, anatomist, and missionary bishop, and so forth. It’s by an Episcopal minister, though.

Fr. Scott of the Camillians is a physician and a priest, and he’s apparently not the only one. He works on a disaster relief taskforce run by the Camillians. They were founded by St. Camillus de Lellis, who made reparation for his evil deeds by becoming a nurse in medieval hospitals, and so his order is oriented toward caring for the sick and giving them spiritual counsel. The order’s website is www.camillians.org.

Here’s an old thread about medical religious orders for men, listing many others. I’m sure a lot of medical missionary and domestic orders aren’t listed, but it’s a good start.

And obviously, if you went to med school and then went to the seminary, you could become a diocesan priest. But you’d be more likely to be useful as a dual doctor/priest in a religious order dedicated to medical stuff – though of course I’m sure any bishop would figure out how to make you useful!

Good luck, and may God bless your willingness to serve.
 
Wow, thanks everyone for the quick responses. Now, I am very fascinated by the Capuchins mostly, but also by the Dominicans. There are many more I haven’t researched but I am aiming for more of a traditional order. You can be a diocesan priest and not only just work as a pastor?
 
deodate said:
Wow, thanks everyone for the quick responses. Now, I am very fascinated by the Capuchins mostly, but also by the Dominicans. There are many more I haven’t researched but I am aiming for more of a traditional order. You can be a diocesan priest and not only just work as a pastor?
Click to expand...
I don’t see how that could work, frankly. I think the duties of a parish would take up all of a priest’s time - how would you fit in work as a physician?

There would be a better fit with missionary work, I think.

Talk to your spiritual director or vocations director about this.
 
presidentjlh said:
EDIT: I misread, I see you mention psychiatry, which is not the same, of course, as doctors of the physical body.
Click to expand...
Actually, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor, and goes throught the same general medical training as any other doctor.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
Actually, a psychiatrist is a medical doctor, and goes throught the same general medical training as any other doctor.
Click to expand...
See? I’m not the sharpest tack in the box when it comes to medicine and stuff. :o

Now if we were to discuss law though.
 
I don’t know if once ordained a priest can practice medicine (unless he is a missionary or stationed at a hospital and has permission of his superiors), but I do know that doctors can be ordained. One of my friends form my college pro-life days became a doctor and later was ordained an eastern-rite priest:

renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/081017
 
So you want to be a priest *and *a doctor. No problem. There is a religious order that is very strong on professional careers: the Jesuits. At college I knew Jesuits who were scientists, engineers, architects, etc. All had professional degrees and licenses of some sort. I read not long ago about a Jesuit who is a medical doctor… and OB/GYN no less.
Good luck to you in your career.

Reb Levi
 
I know two things. Med school is expensive and priests cannot have any significant debt when they’re ordained.
 
People have given good examples of how these two professions can be merged.

Sometimes, the final path for a career does not become clear at such an early age of 19.

For me, I did not discern my current career until I was 23. Then, it occurred all at once when I spent a little time with someone in my current profession.

Up to that point, I kept my options open by studying hard and staying in church.

To go to medical school, you will need an undergraduate degree and fulfill the prerequisites for admission.

Good luck.
 
Many years ago, when I was a college student, I had a job cleaning apartments. One of the apartments I cleaned was occupied by a priest who was a professor at the medical school at the university I attended. It was several months before I ever met the man. I had a key to the apartment so I could get in to clean, and he was never there. Finally, he had a rare day off that coincided with my cleaning day. I asked if I should call him “Father” or “Doctor.” He said, “After being called Doctor all day long, Father sounds good to me.”
 
I believe so, back in the 1800s my family’s parish had a pastor who was a physician. I know religious priests can. I know a Friar who went to school to be a doctor and a ordained priest. Be he decided to remain a brother and became a nurse 🙂
 
TheRealJuliane said:
I don’t see how that could work, frankly. I think the duties of a parish would take up all of a priest’s time - how would you fit in work as a physician?

There would be a better fit with missionary work, I think.

Talk to your spiritual director or vocations director about this.
Click to expand...
Usually, they are MDs first, before they receive the call to the priesthood.

I have a couple of friends who are Jesuit priests. They were MDs first before they entered the society. They still practiced medicine especially in the infirmaries of the Jesuit houses they belonged to. One of them eventually became a parish priest. I assume he didn’t practice medicine there.
 
Yes of course,

I know a missionary priest who is doctor. But his case is totally different from yours. Because he was doctor before to feel the vocation to the priesthood.

In your case, if you feel that God is calling you, take time to discern about that, not to study to become doctor and then priest, or the both in the same time. You need a choice 🙂

God Bless You,

leandresz.com/en/
deodate said:
I am 19 years old and have been given the divine opportunity to discern a calling to the priesthood. Growing up in high school I have liked the idea of medicine, maybe even psychiatry. I have just recently been researching religious orders, because I believe my calling is for a religious order. My question is, if I went through Med school and became some kind of doctor, could I still try and join the priesthood? Can I be a priest and work around the world and help people and pray for their souls and try and help others with mental illnesses and personal struggles? My heart is heavy and confused as to where God wants me?

Side note= My overall passion in life is learning languages which also ties into working abroad and spreading the word of God and also being help as a Doctor if God willed it to be.

God Bless and thank you for helping me through the difficult decisions in life!
Click to expand...
 
The Jesuits have priests who are doctors.

The society of Jesus has many priests who specialize in other careers while also being well grounded in theology and philosophy.
 
I’m a physician, and I was blessed to know Fr. Frank Klamet, M.D. He was a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and practiced family medicine in southern Ohio. He was ordained and served several years as a missionary before going to medical school and completing his residency. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. He successfully combined the practice of medicine with shepherding souls. He would deliver babies, and later baptize them!

See:

obits.cleveland.com/obituaries/cleveland/obituary.aspx?pid=126496988#fbLoggedOut

and

cleveland.com/brett/blog/index.ssf/2009/04/father_frank_klamet_lived_his.html
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top