The necessity of preserving a warm human relationship between physician and patient was stressed by speakers at the Conference on Medicine and Religion at the opening of the Annual AMA Convention.
Formal addresses were presented by William C. Menninger, MD, President of the Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kan, and Abraham J. Heschel, Professor of Jewish Ethics and Mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York.
Edward R. Annis, MD, AMA President, commented informally on the present status of the doctor-patient relationship at the conclusion of the two formal addresses.
"One's religious convictions, ideals, and ethics are an extremely important part of his method of living, of his effectiveness in adjustment, and hence a major factor in his health," Menninger said. "One might assume, and I believe, correctly, that the emphasis on the concept of the whole man is an attempt to counteract a long-standing idea that man somehow or