Muslim medicine

The concept of Muslim medicine, separate in several key aspects from Western medicine, has been ripening in the UK but is now alive and well in West Virginia, as reported by Front Page Magazine. There, a female student (who in fact was failing) complained of discrimination because she was reluctant to conduct chest and pelvic exams of male patients. In the UK, female students have refused to scrub above their wrists, as required in regular medical protocols.

Beneath these differences is a more fundamental philosophical one. Western doctors are required to treat all patients equally. The constitution of the Muslim Doctors and Dentists Association UK, however, emphasizes advancing the Islamic religion and treating primarily Muslim patients. So far that approach has not surfaced in the United States.

The U.S. student, with the help of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has been reinstated by the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine while her dismissal appeal is considered. Round one to the Islamists.