In a recent opinion piece published at Medium, Sarita Khemani, MD, describes a scene where her patient’s care team assembled at the bedside to save the patient’s life. Noting the diversity of the team, she writes, “We all worked together to help save a human life, no questions asked.” And it’s exactly how she likes it to be.

Sometimes, however, it’s not so simple.

In the column, “How religion influences the doctor-patient relationship,” Khemani also writes about one instance when cultural or religious differences could have created discord in the doctor-patient relationship. It’s a consideration for physicians and hospital leaders, she says, who should be prepared for how to handle any interactions that may interfere in proper clinical care.

Khemani is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine. She directs the peri-operative medicine rotation and co-directs the Stanford Medicine Clinical Summer Internship. She attended medical school at Indira Gandhi Medical College in India and completed internship and residency at UCSF. t