Physicians' Personal Lives
Spiritual or Religious Beliefs
Medscape asked physicians about their personal belief system. Almost three quarters (73%) of physicians said they had spiritual or religious beliefs while 27% did not. Of those who held spiritual beliefs, more than three quarters (76%) said it helped them to cope with stress.
The 2018 Medscape numbers are consistent with those of a recently published survey in Journal of Religion and Health that broke down the numbers a little more. Researchers found that 52.5% of physicians were religious and 24.8% were spiritual, while 12.4% were agnostic and 11.6% were atheist.[4]
Weight, Exercise, and Alcohol Consumption
Nearly half (47%) of physicians said they wanted to lose weight, and almost one third (32%) said they were trying to maintain their weight. More women wanted to lose weight than men (52% vs 45%, respectively).
More than one third of respondents (35%) said they exercised two to three times a week, 33% said they exercised more than two to three times a week, and 21% exercised once a week or less. Eleven percent said they didn't exercise at all.
Meanwhile, almost one quarter (22%) of respondents said they didn't drink any alcoholic beverages, while more than one quarter (27%) said they had up to one drink a week, and 8% said they had seven or more drinks a week.
