Survey finds more Hindu, Jewish doctors than in general population

(RNS) A disproportionate percentage of physicians come from religious minority groups, according to University of Chicago research published in the July issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Data came from responses to a 12-page questionnaire, which researchers had mailed to a random sample of 2,000 physicians practicing in the United States.

Among the findings, physicians proved to be 26 times more likely to be Hindu than the overall U.S. population (5.3 percent of doctors vs. 0.2 percent of non-physicians). They are seven times more likely to be Jewish, six times more likely to be Buddhist and five times more likely to be Muslim.

In terms of faith, doctors as a group appear more devout than other scientists. In this survey, 76 percent of respondents said they believe in God. By contrast, only 39 percent of all scientists believe in God, according to surveys published in 1997 and 1998 in the journal Nature.