A phrase common in Seventh-day Adventist usage, meaning not only the profession of medicine, but other phases of the healing arts such as nursing, dentistry, dietetics, the various paramedical techniques, and health education. The following categories may be enumerated:
a. Education of health professions and allied health professionals.
b. Preventive medicine and health education, Better Living centers.
c. Clinical medicine and dentistry.
d. Health evangelism.
e. Health care institutions and other facilities.
For reasons Seventh-day Adventists pay significant attention to questions of health, see Health Principles .
Seventh-day Adventists hold that it is in the very nature of Christian life and faith to exercise compassion toward those who need help, to aid both soul and body. This concept is tersely stated in the motto of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine: “To make man whole.” It is this high motivation that leads Christian people to give emphasis to various forms of medical ministry.
The many kinds of SDA medical work as listed above are employed under varying circumstances to conform to the requirements of each country, as resources are available. In larger metropolitan centers of more advanced countries, modern, well equipped hospitals are developed in keeping with local standards and needs. Except where the larger facilities are developed to be used as teaching centers, small towns or rural areas of newly developed countries are well served by smaller hospitals or by well-equipped clinics or dispensaries. In certain areas, medical units in some instances take the form of medical launches ( see Missionary Vessels ).
In the non-Christian countries of the world, medical work of some form may be the only Christian activity permitted. Hospitals, clinics, maternity centers, well-baby clinics, or simple dispensaries are cordially accepted where the minister is not allowed to go.
Any ministry to the sick in the spirit of Christ is a communication understood by all. It is for this reason that in many instances medical ministry of some form is the medium of choice for entry into new or difficult lands. More and more, effort in health education and public health, which emphasizes healthful living, is receiving governmental favor where curative medicine alone may be regarded as competitive with local practitioners.
On the lay level, church members are encouraged to learn simple health principals and to engage in local health and welfare work.
Education for Medical Work. Professional education to train physicians, nurses, dentists, dietitians, administrators, and many types of technical workers is needed to sustain the widespread medical work to which Seventh-day Adventists are committed.
Professional education in most of these categories is available in the universities of most countries. Graduates from these secular universities are now staffing most SDA medical institutions.
The SDA Church currently operates three universities that provide medical education. Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California, is a General Conference health science university that operates Schools of Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, Allied Health Professions, and Public Health, as well as a Faculty of Religion.
The Inter-American Division operates Montemorelos University in Montemorelos, Mexico, which provides training in the biomedical sciences in such areas as medicine, dental technology, nursing, and public health.
River Plate University in Argentina is currently opening the denomination’s third medical school in addition to the Nursing School operating there.
In India there has been a special relationship for many years between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Christian Medical College at Vellore. In return for the provision by the church of faculty and financial assistance, the interdenominational medical college has accepted a quota of qualified SDA applicants to the College of Medicine. Also, in recent years the church has provided support through Loma Linda University to Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, where a quota of SDA medical, dental, and other health-related professional students are also accepted.
Nurse training is provided in many SDA colleges and hospitals. Midwifery training is offered in connection with several of the overseas nurse training programs. Especially well known is the program in Bangkok, Thailand, now being operated through the new Mission College. Different types of medical technology are offered at several Adventist colleges and universities. Physical therapy training is offered at Loma Linda, Kettering, and Andrews University, and until recently, at Skodsberg, near Copenhagen in Denmark.