Saints and Healers

Models of Faith in Medicine

Edgar A. Gamboa, M.D., FACS, KM, KC*HS

Saints and Healers: Models of Faith in Medicine, written by Dr. Edgar A. Gamboa and published by Domina Nostra Publishing in Providence, Rhode Island, is a beautiful gift to the Church and to the medical profession. In these pages, Doctor Ed—a man of science with a deeply Catholic heart—offers a refreshing vision of medicine grounded not only in skill, but in compassion, ethics, and holiness.

This book is more than a resource for a medical ethics course; it is an invitation to rediscover the noble vocation of healing as a participation in Christ’s own redemptive work. Through the example of the saints, the book reminds every doctor, nurse, and health worker that true healing combines competence with conscience, and knowledge with love.

I wholeheartedly commend this work and pray that it may inspire many to practice medicine with integrity, humility, and faith.

— The Most Rev. Alberto S. Uy, D.D., S.T.D.
Archbishop of Cebu, Philippines

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Saints and Healers offers an invaluable contribution to understanding the profound connection between medical practice and spiritual holiness. Dr. Gamboa, an accomplished surgeon and devout Catholic, masterfully demonstrates that authentic holistic medicine encompasses not merely the physical treatment of patients, but the spiritual well-being of physicians, patients, and their families alike. Through compelling portraits of saints like Mother Teresa, Saint Giuseppe Moscati, and Blessed Damien of Molokai—alongside physician-healers such as Tom Dooley and Alexis Carrel—this book reveals how faith and science, far from being opposed, find their perfect harmony in God, the source of all truth. These exemplars show us that the highest calling in medicine lies not in technical excellence alone, but in the integration of compassionate care with deep spiritual commitment, transforming the practice of healing into a sacred vocation that ministers to the whole person—body, mind, and soul.

— Fr. Gregory Ramon D. Gaston, S.Th.D., D.Comm.
Rector, Pontifical Filipino College, Rome

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Today I found myself deeply absorbed in a remarkable book written by Dr. Edgar A. Gamboa, Saints and Healers: Models of Faith in Medicine. I highly recommend this work to my colleagues in pastoral ministry and to my friends in the medical field—nurses, physical therapists, and doctors alike.

Dr. Ed Gamboa, a Filipino-American, is an accomplished surgeon and healthcare executive with a distinguished career in surgical leadership, complemented by a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame. He serves as Attending Surgeon at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and as CEO of Pacific Vein Specialists, PC, while also holding surgical posts at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital and leading Edgar A. Gamboa, M.D., Med Corp. His blend of medical expertise and theological reflection gives this book both intellectual depth and spiritual resonance.

Reading Saints and Healers feels like encountering the heart of medicine itself—wounded, questioning, yet profoundly luminous. Since its first publication as Virtuous Healers in 2008 by St. Anthony Messenger Press, Dr. Gamboa’s work has served as both mirror and compass for the medical profession.

In this updated edition—thoughtfully revised for use in medical ethics courses—Dr. Gamboa speaks not only as a seasoned surgeon but as a moral witness to the transformation, and at times deformation, of healthcare in our time. His reflections trace how medicine, once a vocation of service, has struggled against the tide of commercialization and bureaucracy, yet continues to reveal sanctity in everyday acts of healing.

What moves me most about this book is its quiet conviction that holiness is still possible within the hospital ward, the emergency room, and the surgeon’s table. Through the lives of saints, physicians, and caregivers, we are reminded that healing is never merely technical—it is pastoral-theological. Dr. Gamboa’s essays are both diagnosis and prescription, inviting us to rediscover medicine not as industry but as sacrament—a sacred trust between healer, patient, and God.

— Fr. Oliver Quilab
Switzerland

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In terms of health and well-being, the controversy between faith and science will always be at the forefront. In his book, Saints and Healers, Dr. Ed A. Gamboa dispels that controversy. Faith and science working together open one’s mind and heart to whatever results the work of human hands can deliver.

— Rev. Fr. Roque P. Vaño
Carmen, Bohol, Philippines

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The medical profession may be at risk of gradual decline. The escalating cost of medical education, plus the six to ten years required to establish an independent practice, has become a significant deterrent even for highly capable individuals. This challenge is further compounded by an increasingly litigious environment, in which physicians are frequently treated as adversaries rather than as healers.

These trends help explain why many physician parents no longer encourage their children to enter medicine—an alarming development for the U.S. healthcare system. Despite advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, authentic medical care remains rooted in the moral conscience, clinical judgment, and reverence for the dignity of the human person.

Medicine, as noted in Saints and Healers, is not merely a technical profession but a vocation ordered toward service, compassion, and the healing ministry exemplified by Christ the Divine Physician.

— Jesse J. Corres, M.D.
Past President, the Philippine Association
of Plastic Surgeons of America
Philippine Medical Association of Chicago
Knight, Cavalieri di San Martin di Tours

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I found this wonderful collection of historical anecdotes about saints and healers to be so touching and inspiring that my spirit was buoyed reading it. It was a soul-cleansing read.

This treatise of love, compassion, and sacrifice clearly reflects the author’s own personal greatness, his strength during a crisis, and his saintly tenderness and empathy for his marginalized fellow men, especially those languishing in the gutter of poverty.

I salute you, Ed Gamboa, for all your outstanding contributions to humanity, and thank God for the blessing and privilege of crossing paths with you as a surgical colleague and dear friend on this journey through life.

Congratulations, and God bless you and your loved one.

This book of sacredness deserves to be in every home library.

— Philip S. Chua, M.D., FACS, FPCS
A Sagamore of the Wabash Awardee
President Emeritus, Society of Philippine Surgeons in America
Chairman, SPSA Council of Past Presidents

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Calling doctors, nurses, other medical professionals and… you! If one is fortunate enough to come across Saints and Healers: Models of Faith in Medicine by Dr. Ed Gamboa, it is no accident that it has fallen into their hands. Someone, whether a friend, family member, or even the Holy Spirit, meant for it to be read.

This book is organized so that readers may approach it one chapter at a time and in no particular order. Dr. Gamboa begins each chapter by identifying an issue encountered not only in the practice of medicine but in daily life, then succinctly draws upon the lives, and even the humor, of the saints to reinforce their enduring examples. Readers may benefit from the experience of St. Therese of Lisieux in dealing with irritating people, as she prayed especially for those who challenged her most, or from the jovial wisdom of St. Philip Neri, who believed, “If you want to be obeyed, don’t give commands.”

Each chapter concludes with a Reflection, true food for thought, and a Spiritual Exercise, offering opportunities for personal transformation and perhaps even for the benefit of those around you. Daily life can be difficult, so treat yourself to the wisdom and encouragement found in Saints and Healers.

— H.E. Mary Currivan O’Brien, DGCHS
Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Lieutenant of Honor, Northwestern Lieutenancy
Member of Honor, Grand Magisterium

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This brilliant and scholarly written book is the author’s plea to the medical profession and other health care providers that in the course of their daily interaction with their patients, they should embrace and be influenced with the wonderful example of the lives of saints and lay people who dedicated their entire life caring and helping the poor, aged, infirm and untouchables of society with unconditional love, self sacrifice, courage, and humility. Dr. Ed Gamboa, himself an excellent surgical specialist who, while focused on the pursuit of near perfection through continuing medical education and innovative science never fail to invoke his own spirituality, idealism, and humanism in the course of his professional work. He further reminds us that we become instruments of God when through our talents and skills we provide the best care possible to our patients regardless of their social status, race, creed, or color of appearance their skin.

— Hernan M. Reyes, M.D., FACS
Founding President, Society of Philippine Surgeons in America
Emeritus Professor of Surgery and Assistant Dean for Surgery,
Rush Medical Center
Emeritus Chairman, Department of Surgery, Cook County Hospital (now Stroger Hospital of Cook County), Chicago, Illinois

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Your book of Saints and Healers is very overwhelming and inspiring. One commentary about Saints is that they are who they were and are. They are our inspiration of hope. For us humans, frail and weak, we are who we are, and by grace God’s grace and mercy, we will be. Such is the call to holiness. I am a cancer survivor. I am most grateful to the doctors who have given me their attention and care, compassion and love, patience and understanding. They are God’s instruments of love and compassion.

Today, in my morning prayer, I read St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 2:19-22. Brothers and sisters: “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the Capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into the dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Praise forever be the Lord for his Faithfulness and Love!

— Rev. Fr. Manuel Curso
Archdiocese of Los Angeles

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Dr. Edgar Gamboa, my esteemed Society of Philippine Surgeons in America Colleague, and Fellow Cebu Institute of Medicine Alumnus, is the epitome of the “Lonely Doctor” who traverses off a beaten path onto the road less traveled. Despite the uneven, sad, and often dangerous trail, nothing breaks the Lonely Doctor’s march, for the
quest is noble. Mission work is a deeply human experience. The journey is a lonely one as it is often very personal. It all starts from within. A single step. A pair of hands. Along the way, every step taken inspires another and multiplies the pair of hands as others rally behind the Doctor’s benevolent mission.

— Juan M. Montero II, M.D., FACS
Founder, Montero Medical Missions

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I am intrigued by Ed’s philosophical question: “How would the saints, if they were in our clothes and shoes, solve the problems we are confronted with?” In the emergency room and the courtroom, I face versions of this question daily. Through years serving together on Order of Malta Lourdes medical pilgrimages, I’ve come to deeply respect Ed’s answer. Saints and Healers reminds us that the practice of medicine-whether in crisis or in the routine-is fundamentally a spiritual discipline, a calling to touch the divine through service to the suffering.

— Dan Field, M.D., KM
Medical Team Director
Order of Malta, Western Association
Annual Lourdes Pilgrimage

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This book is a very inspiring treatise written by a very devout and accomplished Catholic surgeon who is very devoted to our Blessed Mother and Her Divine Son. It is indeed a tremendous honor and privilege to read and review this manuscript, sharing in all of Dr. Gamboa’s experiences. Dr. Gamboa has demonstrated to every one that indeed we are only instruments of God with the Lord guiding our hearts and hands and our intellect in the treatment of our very sick patients especially those who need critical care and operative intervention. Indeed we see Jesus Christ in all our patients. We are privileged to continue the work of our Lord, the greatest Healer and Physician of all.

This book is a must read for all medical practitioners, especially for the medical students and residents, as well as for the laity to appreciate the work of ordinary saints and healers.

— Francisca Tolete Velcek, MD, FACS, FAAP, MAMSE
Dame Grand Cross, Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University
Brooklyn, New York

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