Project Overview







This project provided insight into the lives of American Muslim physicians as they negotiate their identity as Muslims with their identity as medical professionals within a multicultural and pluralistic society. The project was funded by the University of Chicago’s Program on Medicine and Religion Faculty Scholars Program through the John Templeton Foundation. The project focused on the ways Islam influences American Muslim physicians’ medical practices and informs their professional identities. Additionally, we explored American Muslim physicians’ experiences with religion-based workplace discrimination. Alongside the empirical inquiry, we engaged with the philosophical and ethical traditions of Islam as they relate to conceptions of healing and the moral formation of physicians.
Project Aims
Describe the influence of Islamic religiosity on physicians’ practice patterns.
Assess the incidence and predictors of religion-directed workplace discrimination experienced by American Muslim physicians.
Assess the relationships between religiosity and ethical decision making among American Muslim physicians.




Project Significance


Muslim Physicians Believe Islam Influences their Medical Practice
- Motivating them to live out virtuous character traits in the patient-doctor relationship
- Setting the ethico-legal boundaries of their practices
Muslim Physicians in the U.S. Healthcare Workforce


Results







Number of participants that were surveyed (N= 255)
Demographics
70% of participants were of South Asian descent
22% of participants were of Arab descent
4% of participants were of White/Caucasian descent
2% of participants were of Black/African American descent
Report on Healthcare Discrimination
24 % of American Muslim physicians have reported discrimination at work because of their religion
9% of American Muslim physicians have reported their patients refused their care because of their religious identity
Media Highlights







University of Michigan Health System.
Michigan Radio Newsroom
Arab American News
Poster Presentations







Given findings from previous studies which have found an association between physicians’ personal characteristics (e.g. religiosity, sense of calling) and certain practices of community engagement (e.g. caring for the underserved), we assessed whether measures of Muslim religiosity and sense of calling predicted various practices of community engagement.
In Collaboration with:











Supported by:


Data Repository Information
Access the survey questions, datasets, and data use agreements for this project.