John Shin MD
Medical Oncology
Medical Ministry Bio
I believe that the highest calling in medicine is to reach people for the Lord, and I believe the practice of medicine should serve as an entering wedge to introduce people to Christ. I work in oncology because it gives me access to patients who are keenly aware of their mortality. Even people with no religious background start asking spiritual questions when they receive a cancer diagnosis, and being a medical oncologist gives me the privilege of joining them on this journey.
I find that when you work with terminal illnesses, there are tremendous opportunities for witnessing and seeing the Holy Spirit work in people’s lives. I am passionate about engaging patients in spiritual dialogue, praying with them, and ultimately sharing Christ with them. The way that I incorporate spiritual care into my practice is to prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to give me divine appointments throughout my day and to follow His leading. This keeps clinic very exciting, and it is the best safeguard against burnout and cynicism that I can think of. I find that engaging patients in spiritual dialogue and offering prayer is a very respectful and winsome way of sharing my faith, and my focus is to better hone this skill every day so that I can more effectively discern the spiritual problems that undergird the physical ones in peoples’ lives.
My vision for my practice of medicine is to use it as a ministry to help those with limited time to find hope and healing (if not physically then spiritually) during a time that could otherwise be devastating to themselves and their families. I want to leverage all of my time, talents, and energies to point people to the Master Physician who alone can make them whole. I also want to use my experience to help inspire the next generation of physicians to unlock their full potential by dedicating their careers to God.
Fill out the form below to choose John Shin as your mentor.