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Jer Master was an Indian pediatrician who left medicine to pursue the study of
Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...
. For more than two decades, Master worked in the field of medicine, both in private practice and as a professor of pediatrics at the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
, India. Several years after becoming introduced to Christian Science, she resigned her position at the hospital. Master eventually became a
practitioner Practitioner may refer to: *General practitioner *Nurse practitioner * Health practitioner *Insolvency practitioner * Justice and public safety practitioner * Legal practitioner *Medical practitioner *Mental health professional or practitioner * ...
and later, a teacher of Christian Science.


Career

Master was raised and educated in Mumbai. In addition to a private practice specializing in pediatric cardiology,Madelon Maupin Holland
"An interview: Why I left the medical profession for Christian Science"
''Christian Science Journal'' (April 1980). Retrieved 17 June.
she was affiliated with the Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in Bombay, India, where she was a professor of pediatrics. Around 1969, a neighbor gave her a few copies of the ''
Christian Science Sentinel The ''Christian Science Sentinel'' (originally the ''Christian Science Weekly'') is a magazine published by the Christian Science Publishing Society based in Boston, Massachusetts. The magazine was launched by Mary Baker Eddy in 1898. It include ...
'', which she accepted "to be polite". Master said, "I quickly realized this was not the usual kind of missionary literature; its logic and clarity set it apart." At that point, she bought a copy of ''
Science and Health ''Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures'' by Mary Baker Eddy is, along with the Bible, one of two central texts of the Christian Science religion. Eddy described it as her "most important work." She began writing it in February 1872, and t ...
'', the textbook of Christian Science, but she continued her medical work. Over time, her views changed. Master said that in addition, a return to
Cornell University Medical Center Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...
in New York,"Dispelling illusion through spiritual truth"
''Deccan Herald'' (18 March 2004). Retrieved 17 June 2013
where she had done postdoctoral research proved pivotal. Finding herself recognizing some of the young patients from more than a decade earlier, (with her notes still in their files), she found their lives sad and the state of medicine to be "so futile". Master said she was cured of bouts of severe migraine headaches after reading the first chapter of ''Science and Health''.Lalitha Sridhar (April 2005
Medicine in the Mantra
Life Positive.
In 1976, after 25 years, she resigned her position at the hospital and quit her medical practice. She had "primary class instruction" in Christian Science. Master became a
practitioner Practitioner may refer to: *General practitioner *Nurse practitioner * Health practitioner *Insolvency practitioner * Justice and public safety practitioner * Legal practitioner *Medical practitioner *Mental health professional or practitioner * ...
and later, a teacher of Christian Science. Asked in a 1980 interview to describe the differences between medicine and Christian Science, she replied, "First, medical theories change from year to year. Books written ten years ago are almost outdated now. There's not a fixed law on which such theories are based, whereas Christian Science is based on fixed Principle, God." Master continued, "And not only do medical treatments and concepts vary from year to year, but from one part of the world to another." Master also mentioned the often dangerous side effects of various drugs and medicines, as well as
Iatrogenesis Iatrogenesis is the causation of a disease, a harmful complication, or other ill effect by any medical activity, including diagnosis, intervention, error, or negligence."Iatrogenic", ''Merriam-Webster.com'', Merriam-Webster, Inc., accessed 27 ...
. According to Master, in Christian Science treatment, effects are "only beneficial". She continued her work in Christian Science until her death in 2010.


Published writings (partial list)

* Jer Master, M.D.; Mary Allen Engle, M.D.; Gertrude Stern, M.D.; Carl H. Smith, M.D
"Cardiac complications of chronic, severe, refractory anemia with hemochromatosis"
''The Journal of Pediatrics'', Volume 58, Issue 4, pp. 455–463 (April 1961) * Jer Master, C.S.B.
"Your children are in God's care"
''Christian Science Journal'' (March 1994). Adapted from a lecture given on 21 November 1993. Retrieved 18 June 2013 * Jer Master
"A Cure for Every Ill"
''The Christian Science Journal'' (April 2006). Retrieved 16 June 2013. * Jer Master
"Spiritual Immunity"
''Christian Science Sentinel'' (2 January 2006). Retrieved 17 June 2013


See also

* Edmund F. Burton * Walton Hubbard * John M. Tutt


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Master, Jer Indian paediatricians Converts to Christian Science Indian Christian Scientists Living people Parsi people Year of birth missing (living people) Medical doctors from Mumbai