I was just discussing this the other day with one of my friends. We both grew up in the Seventh-Day Adventist church, a church that has made "medical evangelis

I was just discussing this the other day with one of my friends. We both grew up in the Seventh-Day Adventist church, a church that has made "medical evangelism" a big part of its strategy. The discussion was brought about by seeing an Adventist doctor we'd eaten dinner with a few months ago in California, being interviewed on CNN from a hospital in Liberia where she was caring for Ebola patients. I have grandparents, aunts and uncles who were all trained at Adventist medical institutions, and spent time working at hospitals in 3rd world countries. The Adventist church has its own medical school, as well as a health system (though neither is directly operated by the church). I took a "student missions" year out of college (somewhat like Mormon mission years, only typically more a religiously-driven piece-corps-type year of teaching, medical assistance etc. than direct-evangelism) and spent it in Belize volunteering at a hospital. 3 of the hospital's 5 physicians were Cubans, and I learned first-hand that Cuba and the Adventist church have remarkably similar strategies when it comes to training doctors, and using them as a PR tool. In both cases it seems to be quite effective. In Belize, many people I met thought highly of Cuba, because their most direct interaction was through the doctors they sent. Even here in the states, when the Adventist church is mentioned I'll often hear, "Oh, I think my Doctor is one of those."