Lots of references to Viagra in these pieces!
Health is About Way More Than Weight– My latest Christianity Today column is about how the Church can deal with the obesity crisis– by focusing less on the actual numbers and more on ameliorating the problems that cause us to overeat or smoke in the first place.
Strength in Weakness– I really liked Andy Crouch’s new book, Strong and Weak. Though I still think his last book, Playing God, needs to be read by more people!
Our Drugs Addiction– This CT column from May takes on the pharmaceutical industry’s preferential treatment of the rich. and what anyone can do at their doctor’s office to help push the system in a better direction.
How Then Shall We Work? Medicine– I participated in the Comment symposium on technology and the professions, focusing on medicine. I discussed how electronic medical records demonstrate the foibles of using technology to make things better. I still wish we had been able to use the original title, “User Error” but it didn’t quite work in the print layout.
What West Baltimore Needs– The American Conservative wanted a retrospective look at the events in Baltimore last year, so I wrote about how the immediate response to the unrest was a picture of our disorganized and dysfunctional approach to helping struggling urban neighborhoods. I also pointed towards some of the ways that we could do better as I explored the costs of dealing with the culture that helps poverty stay entrenched.
Benedict and Jesus– If you’re not tired of the Benedict Option discussion, I jumped in again to go back and forth with Alan Jacobs (who ended up replying here).
Matthew and Maggie Loftus 
Hi Matthew,
I’m a Christian medical student in Sydney in my final year of study. I’m looking for resources about how to think about the vocation from a Christian perspective and I figure you might be the guy to ask. Any ideas?
Cheers,
Hugh
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hi Hugh!
Thanks for asking. A good place to start would be the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship/Association (http://www.cmdfa.org.au/ & https://cmda.org/) have some good articles. This book, Upholding the Vision, is a bit scattered but has some good thoughts: https://www.cchf.org/bookstore
I also really, really liked this book, which is more about the practice of medicine than the vocation of being a physician, but you may also find it valuable: https://books.google.com/books?id=vrvdiGei0mwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
I hope this helps! I am also more than happy to chat– I have connections with several Aussie docs working here in South Sudan if you’re interested in being introduced!
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Thanks for answering!
I had a look at a few of those resources and they seem great! Anything else on the practice of medicine? i think that is more what I was getting at but couldn’t quite articulate it.
A minister at my church was actually Graeme Poole’s brother-in-law, it’s a small Christian world eh? I had a few chats with him last year, half thought about going to His House of Hope for my elective, but I think the uni would have found it too dangerous, went to Arusha, Tanzania instead.
Hugh
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haha, what a connection! hmmm… i haven’t read this book, but this essay made me want to! https://www.cardus.ca/comment/article/4892/pursuing-health-in-an-anxious-age/
The work of Dan Fountain is also really valuable and I’d commend any of his books to you.
And we’re happy to have you come out here to HHH to have this conversation in person anytime! : )
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