Medicine & Islam : an integration

bismillahirrahmanirrahim

salam. the past few years had been wonderful to me. alhamdulillah. i'd got the chance to study medicine in overseas, it's something that i really wish for though i dont really know why. at the sametime, He'd given me the chance to know Islam deeper. to understand it with my heart. sometimes, i could felt as if i'm more eager to to learn islam rather than to study medicine. then these questions appear, "what am i doing here for the next 5 years?" "why do i limit myself to treat people's body while what i really want to do is to change others' thinking?"

i've always looked at medicine and islam as two different areas. separated. are there really no crossing lines between them?

what do we have in common?
be it a patient with myocardial infarction, a doctor, an ustaz or even an indigenous person, they all have one thing in common. they've got their minds. their way of thinking. their own perspective towards things/events around them. what distinguishes a muslim and a non-muslim is their insights into life. insights of a muslim are always parallel with what Allah wants.

the black death: an example
in the first week of my 1st year, i'd learnt about the popular plaque outbreak (ie the black death)
which ravaged Europe around 14th century. about one-third (around 25million) of the European population died during the outbreak. weirdly enough, it did not spread to the middle east area. why? it's because the difference in europeans and muslims perspectives towards cleanliness. europeans at that time could careless about it while muslims were really particular regarding cleanliness as it is also a part of one's faith towards Allah SWT. and who says medicine and islam have no common ground?

way of thinking: a wider aspect
having said that, there is a hidden relation between islam and medicine. apart from that, always bear in mind that medicine may be all about health but health is not all about one's physiological function. health also comprises the psychological aspect of a person.

during my Rural, Remote & Indigenous Health class last week, i had been given the chance to watch a thoughtful video title 'crossing the line'. it was about 2 medical students doing their placements in an indigenous community which has high rates of suicides and alcoholic violence. from my observation, suicides and alcohol are seen as simple getaways from their daily stress and problems. they see those things as quick escapades without realizing their traumatising aftermaths to their families and the community. not to mention their health-compromising behaviours (ie behaviours that worse their already worsen health).

feedbacks from others regarding the vid were all about the clinical aspects of handling such community. ranging from clinical skills to be used when communicating with indigenous people to clinical management of certain disease. yes, they are all important but for me, medicine is beyond that.

for us to change somebody's behaviour, we need to twist their way of thinking first. their ways of looking at lives. only by understanding their current frame of mind, we can adjust it and assimilate our ideas of islam into their minds. it's all about minds for minds determine one's actions.

i view the community as a group of people who is trapped in an enclosed space with no way out. everything around them seems so dark. their life no longer seems valuable and meaningful. they need something to fill their empty heart. the shine of islam is all they need. the light of hopes that will make them to really appreciate their lives.

and medicine is just the perfect platform that will open up a wide and broad path for me to reach them. there are more than just crossing lines between islam and medicine. they are always parallel and side by side with each other. may He always guide all of us. insyaAllah. amin.