Ep472 - Finding Purpose in Medicine Through Faith and Ritual with Dr. Jonathan Weinkle

39min | 07/01/2025

Description

This episode is sponsored by: My Financial Coach
You trained to save lives—who’s helping you save your financial future? My Financial Coach connects physicians with CFP® Professionals who specialize in your complex needs. Whether it’s crushing student loans, optimizing investments, or planning for retirement, you’ll get a personalized strategy built around your goals. Save for a vacation home, fund your child’s education, or prepare for life’s surprises—with unbiased, advice-only planning through a flat monthly fee. No commissions. No conflicts. Just clarity.

Visit myfinancialcoach.com/physiciansguidetodoctoring to meet your financial coach and find out if concierge planning is right for you.

———————

Can faith enhance medical practice and renew purpose? Host Dr. Bradley Block welcomes Dr. Jonathan Weinkle, for an in-depth discussion centered around his insightful book, ‘Illness to Exodus’. Drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of the Passover Seder, Dr. Weinkle has developed an innovative Healing Seder, a ritual designed to cultivate compassion and infuse a renewed sense of purpose into the daily lives of healthcare providers. Leveraging his deep Jewish heritage and his extensive experience teaching courses such as Death and the Healthcare Professions, he delves into the transformative potential of simple rituals, such as performing a morning Kiddush over a cup of coffee, which can elevate routine tasks into profoundly meaningful acts. This episode masterfully weaves together themes of faith, compelling storytelling, and actionable advice, providing physicians with valuable tools to rediscover their calling and maintain a purposeful approach to their practice, even amidst the monotony of repetitive patient care.

Three Actionable Takeaways:

Adopt a Daily Ritual – Use a morning Kiddush or similar practice (e.g., over coffee) to start your day with purpose and resilience.
Embrace Patient Narratives – Listen to patients’ unique stories, like a Seder tale, to reignite curiosity and care in repetitive care settings.
Navigate Faith Conflicts with Empathy – Engage with patients’ religious views openly to find common ground and tailor effective care plans.

About the Show:
PGD Physician’s Guide to Doctoring covers patient interactions, burnout, career growth, personal finance, and more. If you're tired of dull medical lectures, tune in for real-world lessons we should have learned in med school!

About the Guest:
Dr. Jonathan Weinkle is an internist and pediatrician who practices primary care and serves as Chief Medical Officer at Squirrel Hill Health Center in Pittsburgh. A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine graduate with a Med-Peds residency, he is a clinical assistant professor in Family Medicine and part-time instructor in Religious Studies and Conceptual Foundations of Medicine at Pitt. He teaches Death and the Healthcare Professions and Healing and Humanity, authored Healing People, Not Patients and Illness to Exodus, and runs ‘Healers Who Listen’, where he blogs on healing and Jewish tradition. Once considering a rabbinical path, he now integrates faith and medicine to support physicians and patients.

LinkedIn:http://linkedin.com/in/jonathan-weinkle-3440032a
website: https://healerswholisten.com

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/healerswholisten?igsh=eXQ3a2QxMXZncTlu

About the host:

Dr. Bradley Block – Dr. Bradley Block is a board-certified otolaryngolo...

About Succeed in Medicine

Was your training enough to handle everything physician life demands? From lawsuits to leadership, career decisions to challenging conversations, balancing the personal with the professional — not enough was addressed in medical school, residency or fellowship. This show fills those gaps so you can live up to the expectations that come with the white coat — not just in the exam room, but in all the places your MD follows you. Your host, Dr. Bradley Block, a private practice ENT, is right there with you — navigating the same challenges and bringing in world-class guests to teach, as he puts it, “everything we should have been learning while we were memorizing Kreb’s cycle.” With nearly 500 episodes and close to half a million downloads, Brad has built a trusted space where physicians come for brass-tacks, immediately-applicable advice. You don’t need another certification. You need a podcast that covers personal finance, private practice, side-gigs, main-gigs, reacting to bad reviews, misinformation, social media, charting, parenting, communicating, negotiating, leading, managing, teaching, learning and what to do when someone yells, “Is there a doctor on board?”

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Succeed in Medicine

Was your training enough to handle everything physician life demands? From lawsuits to leadership, career decisions to challenging conversations, balancing the personal with the professional — not enough was addressed in medical school, residency or fellowship. This show fills those gaps so you can live up to the expectations that come with the white coat — not just in the exam room, but in all the places your MD follows you. Your host, Dr. Bradley Block, a private practice ENT, is right there with you — navigating the same challenges and bringing in world-class guests to teach, as he puts it, “everything we should have been learning while we were memorizing Kreb’s cycle.” With nearly 500 episodes and close to half a million downloads, Brad has built a trusted space where physicians come for brass-tacks, immediately-applicable advice. You don’t need another certification. You need a podcast that covers personal finance, private practice, side-gigs, main-gigs, reacting to bad reviews, misinformation, social media, charting, parenting, communicating, negotiating, leading, managing, teaching, learning and what to do when someone yells, “Is there a doctor on board?”

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

This episode is sponsored by: My Financial Coach
You trained to save lives—who’s helping you save your financial future? My Financial Coach connects physicians with CFP® Professionals who specialize in your complex needs. Whether it’s crushing student loans, optimizing investments, or planning for retirement, you’ll get a personalized strategy built around your goals. Save for a vacation home, fund your child’s education, or prepare for life’s surprises—with unbiased, advice-only planning through a flat monthly fee. No commissions. No conflicts. Just clarity.

Visit myfinancialcoach.com/physiciansguidetodoctoring to meet your financial coach and find out if concierge planning is right for you.

———————

Can faith enhance medical practice and renew purpose? Host Dr. Bradley Block welcomes Dr. Jonathan Weinkle, for an in-depth discussion centered around his insightful book, ‘Illness to Exodus’. Drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of the Passover Seder, Dr. Weinkle has developed an innovative Healing Seder, a ritual designed to cultivate compassion and infuse a renewed sense of purpose into the daily lives of healthcare providers. Leveraging his deep Jewish heritage and his extensive experience teaching courses such as Death and the Healthcare Professions, he delves into the transformative potential of simple rituals, such as performing a morning Kiddush over a cup of coffee, which can elevate routine tasks into profoundly meaningful acts. This episode masterfully weaves together themes of faith, compelling storytelling, and actionable advice, providing physicians with valuable tools to rediscover their calling and maintain a purposeful approach to their practice, even amidst the monotony of repetitive patient care.

Three Actionable Takeaways:

Adopt a Daily Ritual – Use a morning Kiddush or similar practice (e.g., over coffee) to start your day with purpose and resilience.
Embrace Patient Narratives – Listen to patients’ unique stories, like a Seder tale, to reignite curiosity and care in repetitive care settings.
Navigate Faith Conflicts with Empathy – Engage with patients’ religious views openly to find common ground and tailor effective care plans.

About the Show:
PGD Physician’s Guide to Doctoring covers patient interactions, burnout, career growth, personal finance, and more. If you're tired of dull medical lectures, tune in for real-world lessons we should have learned in med school!

About the Guest:
Dr. Jonathan Weinkle is an internist and pediatrician who practices primary care and serves as Chief Medical Officer at Squirrel Hill Health Center in Pittsburgh. A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine graduate with a Med-Peds residency, he is a clinical assistant professor in Family Medicine and part-time instructor in Religious Studies and Conceptual Foundations of Medicine at Pitt. He teaches Death and the Healthcare Professions and Healing and Humanity, authored Healing People, Not Patients and Illness to Exodus, and runs ‘Healers Who Listen’, where he blogs on healing and Jewish tradition. Once considering a rabbinical path, he now integrates faith and medicine to support physicians and patients.

LinkedIn:http://linkedin.com/in/jonathan-weinkle-3440032a
website: https://healerswholisten.com

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/healerswholisten?igsh=eXQ3a2QxMXZncTlu

About the host:

Dr. Bradley Block – Dr. Bradley Block is a board-certified otolaryngolo...

About Succeed in Medicine

Was your training enough to handle everything physician life demands? From lawsuits to leadership, career decisions to challenging conversations, balancing the personal with the professional — not enough was addressed in medical school, residency or fellowship. This show fills those gaps so you can live up to the expectations that come with the white coat — not just in the exam room, but in all the places your MD follows you. Your host, Dr. Bradley Block, a private practice ENT, is right there with you — navigating the same challenges and bringing in world-class guests to teach, as he puts it, “everything we should have been learning while we were memorizing Kreb’s cycle.” With nearly 500 episodes and close to half a million downloads, Brad has built a trusted space where physicians come for brass-tacks, immediately-applicable advice. You don’t need another certification. You need a podcast that covers personal finance, private practice, side-gigs, main-gigs, reacting to bad reviews, misinformation, social media, charting, parenting, communicating, negotiating, leading, managing, teaching, learning and what to do when someone yells, “Is there a doctor on board?”

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Succeed in Medicine

Was your training enough to handle everything physician life demands? From lawsuits to leadership, career decisions to challenging conversations, balancing the personal with the professional — not enough was addressed in medical school, residency or fellowship. This show fills those gaps so you can live up to the expectations that come with the white coat — not just in the exam room, but in all the places your MD follows you. Your host, Dr. Bradley Block, a private practice ENT, is right there with you — navigating the same challenges and bringing in world-class guests to teach, as he puts it, “everything we should have been learning while we were memorizing Kreb’s cycle.” With nearly 500 episodes and close to half a million downloads, Brad has built a trusted space where physicians come for brass-tacks, immediately-applicable advice. You don’t need another certification. You need a podcast that covers personal finance, private practice, side-gigs, main-gigs, reacting to bad reviews, misinformation, social media, charting, parenting, communicating, negotiating, leading, managing, teaching, learning and what to do when someone yells, “Is there a doctor on board?”

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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