Patient & Physician Relationships Subject of Conference

The patient-physician relationship is currently a contractual one, but local cardiologist Dr. Michael Attas said the relationship should be more like a covenant.
Attas, cardiologist with Waco Cardiology Associates, and Dr. William Peper, cardiovascular surgeon with Central Texas Cardiovascular Associates, will discuss how ministers can team with physicians to provide physical and spiritual health care at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the VIP Room of the Baylor University Ferrell Center. The doctors will speak during a Continuing Education for Church and Denominational Workers conference sponsored by Baylor's ministry guidance program and the university's George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
Attas will speak on various health care models while Peper will speak on divorce among physicians.
"I am going to cover the relationship between religious dialogue and health care," Attas said. "I also will challenge the relationship between the patient and the health care system." Attas said he will use Old Testament covenant and sacramental theology as a premise for his ideas. Peper said he wants to raise ministers' awareness of how susceptible doctors are to divorce and how ministers can reach out to physicians.
"We often think of doctors as the pillars of the community, but they are often in as much need as anyone else," Peper said.
The subject of the conference is "A Healthy Heart." Ministers and lay persons attend the continuing education conferences that are held each fall and spring semester.