Paul Osteen

== Career ==

=== Private practice ===
Soon after finishing his surgical [[Residency (medicine)|residency]] in [[Arkansas]], Osteen joined a private practice in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]]. Osteen stayed at the practice for 20 years before transitioning back to his home in Houston to help his brother Joel take over as pastor of Lakewood. After a medical mission trip in 2005, Osteen felt compelled to use his trained surgery skills to help others who lack access to medical care.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sinitiere|first=Phillip Luke|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-dsWCgAAQBAJ&dq=paul+osteen&pg=PA113|title=Salvation with a Smile: Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, and American Christianity|date=2015-11-13|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-0814-9|language=en}}</ref>

=== Humanitarian work ===
Osteen ended his private career in 2005, instead choosing to address the lack of basic surgical care for those in Sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paul Osteen hopes to mobilize medical community to meet 'overwhelming' global needs|url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/paul-osteen-hopes-to-mobilize-medical-community-to-meet-overwhelming-global-needs.html|access-date=2020-06-09|website=www.christianpost.com|language=en}}</ref> Partnering alongside Christian aid-organizations like [[Samaritan's Purse]] and [[World Vision International|World Vision]], Osteen travels to rural parts of Zambia and Kenya to provide surgical care, deliver medical equipment, and train new doctors for communities otherwise isolated from healthcare.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lawson|first=Melanie|date=2016-02-09|title=Paul Osteen: How letting go led him to his true calling|url=https://abc13.com/1192226/|access-date=2020-06-09|website=ABC13 Houston|language=en}}</ref>

In an interview about the role of the church in the fight against medical poverty, Osteen says:<blockquote>“We, as the [[Christianity in the United States|American church]], can’t get so insulated that we forget poor, suffering people,” Paul says. “If we in the church become so religious we look the other way, it’s a sad thing.” <ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-04-23|title=Dr. Paul Osteen's latest operation: 'Elevate the poor out of poverty'|url=https://www.worldvision.org/charitable-giving-news-stories/dr-paul-osteen-latest-operation-elevate-poor-poverty|access-date=2020-06-09|website=World Vision|language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>Osteen also serves on teams that respond to immediate disasters, like the [[Refugees of Iraq|Iraq refugee crisis]], and often travels to areas suffering immediately after catastrophic events transpire.<ref>{{Cite web|last=BCNN1|title=Joel Osteen's Doctor Brother Paul Osteen Recalls Atrocities He Witnessed in Iraq & How God Worked Through Medical Missions {{!}} BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network|url=https://blackchristiannews.com/2018/12/joel-osteens-doctor-brother-paul-osteen-recalls-atrocities-he-witnessed-in-iraq-how-god-worked-through-medical-missions/|access-date=2020-06-09|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Advocacy ===
Osteen founded a medical conference for missionary work, called the M3 Conference, in 2016. The goal of the conference is to connect medical workers with organizations working to relieve poverty in [[least developed countries]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Peyton|first=Lindsay|date=2019-02-14|title=Dr. Paul Osteen is on a mission with medical conference|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/houston-belief/article/Dr-Paul-Osteen-is-on-a-mission-with-medical-13617167.php|access-date=2020-06-09|website=HoustonChronicle.com|language=en-US}}</ref>