So what is the role of G-d’s Providence in the context of modern medicine and what is the role of the doctors?  Is there a place for prayer and faith, both for the patient and the physician?

The paradigm for life, since we were banished from the Garden of Eden,  is one of struggle and the need to provide the necessities of life through the sweat of one’s brow.  We are obliged therefore to take action not only to feed ourselves but to maintain our health.  Maimonides stated that healing the sick was no different from the actions of a man curing his hunger by procuring bread to eat.  The physician is not interfering with divine will any more than is a person who gives charity to the poor. 

The Torah and Talmudic sources sanction the role of the physician.  "The Torah gave permission to the physician to heal; moreover this is a religious precept, and it is included in the category of saving life". The code of Jewish law states "the physician’s right to heal is a religious duty and that he who shirks this responsibility is regarded as shedding blood".

The physician therefore is authorized to play this role in the healing process but is considered the messenger of G-d, "the physician is G-d’s messenger in healing people in need.  Therefore, the motivation of a physician is geared toward more and better knowledge in order to glorify G-d in this world; in this way the physician can best fulfill his or her duties to others in need." (Yad Avraham 4, pg.21) He is therefore obliged to be as good a physician as he can possibly be by learning and by hard work.  And all his successful outcomes are attributable to the healing powers of G-d.  He cannot point to the hand of G-d when medical efforts fail - as G-d has empowered man to play a powerful role in the treatment of disease.  He should pray that G-d will give him the insight and creativity to find solutions for medical problems where none existed before.

All men, and perhaps particularly physicians, live in a world of conflict between our responsibility to provide for ourselves and our belief and reliance on the Providence of G-d.  It is unacceptable for the physician to be inadequately prepared, or to apply himself inadequately, hoping for divine support to make up for his deficiencies. Likewise, every human should look to his own actions to sustain his health and to avoid illness both directly by preventive means, and indirectly by providing support for medical research, and by seeking the care of  the best doctors.  But we can and must pray for greater ability, greater wisdom, and greater endurance to fulfill our respective roles. 

We must also take on the obligation of providing for our own health and longevity in all its ramifications. And the physician has the obligation to advance medical practice and progress to prevent and cure illness

Hillel Laks, MD is Professor and Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and is Director of Heart, Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Laks, an exceptionally skilled heart surgeon, has developed an innovative program to provide senior citizens with donor hearts. He recently returned from a charity trip to Moscow where he performed surgery on infants who otherwise would have been left untreated. His passion for children with congenital heart defects has made him an innovator of many surgical procedures that are used worldwide.