Even so, he entered Columbia at 16. He stayed at Columbia for his M.D., and went on to a residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. A physician occupies a unique perch. You really do see the mysteries in life and you have incredible access to every recess of a person's experience. Like many religious texts, this one is subject to interpretation.
Nobody is perfect, especially in the face of imperfect knowledge.
Judaism is a source of strength for this man who, ministering to the gravely ill at the limits of medical knowledge, lives with the uncertainty of his own recommendations. He has read the theologian Paul Tillich, whose argument that doubt is an essential part of faith resonates with him. That kind of skepticism is part of what it means to be a good doctor to one's patients. Doubt is a central theme of Groopman's latest book, Second Opinions, published in March. Groopman's account shows how it is possible to be moral and yet to be wrong.