Young Catholics discerning a career in medicine face not only long years of training, but also the challenge of navigating a health-care culture that often demands ideological conformity. 

A panel of Catholic physicians in Vancouver is hoping to help students face that reality with clarity, confidence and faith.

The panel of Catholic medical professionals will meet at Holy Name Church March 7 to help young people considering medical careers better understand the beauty of medicine and answer their questions about navigating the necessary training and education. The event is being moderated and organized by Vancouver family physician Dr. Christopher Ryan.

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Ryan said the event was inspired by post-Mass conversations with young people curious about working in medicine.

The enthusiasm of local health-care professionals to join the panel has impressed Ryan. He quickly had seven panellists representing nursing, pharmacy and a range of medical specialties. 

“I don’t think that in my lifetime my faith or beliefs were threatened as they are now,” he said. “I think that this is a time to stand up.”

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What gives him hope is seeing young people “who are taking their lives and their vocations seriously, standing up for what’s right and being brave.”

The goal of the event is to help even more young people do just that. While the landscape of health-care training has become more ideological, Ryan believes there are more opportunities than ever for those considering medicine, and they’re all open to practising Catholics. He hopes the panel will help students navigate an increasingly progressive interview process.

He says the public imagination has stagnated on the value of doctors’ personal values, especially if they are religious, and many question the need for Catholic health care or Catholics in medicine. He considers such thinking shortsighted, noting the value of a physician who shares their patient’s perspective on religion and spirituality. He values having a Christian doctor with whom he has “shared goals, beliefs, respect and understanding.” A Catholic doctor offers the “extra benefits of faith and belief in God and His grace,” bringing consolation that another doctor might struggle to provide.

“We know that God loves us and that there is a life thereafter,” Ryan said. “Having that confidence and maturity is a really great thing to share with (your patient).”

Ryan recalled a conversation with his wife, bioethicist Dr. Yuriko Ryan, in which she emphasized the importance of Catholics accompanying others through life. He laughed at how accompaniment plays out in his own practice, calling himself “a dinosaur” who still makes regular house calls. Encountering people in need is part of working in health care. 

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“We tend to meet them frequently when there is some problem or even a crisis. It’s a great gift to me to be able to help people.”

Those who come to the panel discussion will “have an opportunity to change the world and help people,” he said. “If the young people who have religious and spiritual beliefs grow up and bring those with them, the world that is currently in chaos will get better. The world that (my generation) left behind will become a better place.”