It was my first year of maternal-fetal medicine fellowship, and I was at an impasse. Between a grueling 1.5-hour daily commute, 36-hour shifts caring for patients and returning home to be a husband to my wife, a father to our two toddlers and a son to my widowed mother, I found myself completely depleted. I had no peace—only exhaustion, exasperation and a soul stretched thin.

 

It was in that season of desperation that the Holy Spirit pierced my heart with the gospel, and I became a genuine follower of Jesus Christ. In God’s perfect providence, He placed a mature believer in healthcare in my path who took me under his wing. Over the next six months, we met regularly in what became a life-on-life discipleship journey. Through his patient investment, my walk with Christ was firmly rooted, and my worldview began to transform. I began to understand how to be a husband and father and lead my family spiritually. I started to see my hospital halls and clinic rooms not just as places of work—but as mission fields. God gave me boldness to initiate spiritual conversations and invite curious trainees into our home for meals, fellowship and exploration of God’s Word.

 

Most importantly, I came to realize this: my experience of spiritual challenge during medical training was not unique. In fact, it is a shared reality among countless healthcare trainees. So, too, is the opportunity for believers in healthcare to step into the calling of mentorship and discipleship.

 

Healthcare trainees have long been central to the mission of CMDA—to educate, encourage and equip Christian healthcare professionals to glorify God. Yet, as the content and culture of training evolve, maintaining a Christian worldview through the grueling stages of healthcare education has become increasingly difficult. From undergraduate medical education, through graduate medical education and into independent practice, our trainees are in desperate need of a Christ-centered community to help them endure—and flourish.

 

CMDA’s Campus & Community Ministry (CCM) has faithfully nurtured students on medical, dental and health professional school campuses for years, providing strong fellowship and spiritual formation during pre-clinical years. However, when students graduate into the next stage—residency and fellowship—they often become disconnected. The structure of graduate medical education, scattered across thousands of programs and often marked by secularism, demands long hours, brings emotional exhaustion and offers few opportunities for faith-based connection.

 

In 2017, God orchestrated another divine encounter when I crossed paths with CMDA CEO Dr. Mike Chupp. Over the next two years, we shared conversations about the urgent need to support healthcare trainees—especially in graduate medical education—and help bridge the spiritual gap that often emerges during transitions. This passion ultimately led to the formation of an exploratory taskforce to assess the barriers and opportunities for mentorship and discipleship in graduate medical training.

 

Over a period of 10 months, we listened to trainees, surveyed members and analyzed engagement trends. What we found was sobering, but it was also deeply encouraging. The majority of graduate medical education trainees engaged with CMDA desire spiritual mentorship, but they lack access to Christian mentors in their training locations. In fact, 94 percent of graduate medical education trainees we surveyed said they would welcome a Christian physician or dentist to walk with them spiritually, but two-thirds reported they currently don’t have such a mentor. The need is great, but so is the potential.

 

We also discovered something remarkable: an estimated 60 percent of CMDA members in practice we surveyed already have opportunities to interact with trainees. Many simply need vision, training and encouragement to step into those relationships. The fields are indeed ripe for harvest.

 

As a result, the taskforce recommended the creation of a Mentoring and Discipleship Commission, now formally approved by CMDA’s Board of Trustees. Our mission is clear: to build a community of Christ-followers committed to shaping the spiritual and professional identity of healthcare trainees by equipping mentors, creating resources and cultivating organic, life-giving relationships rooted in the gospel.

 

At the heart of this work is the Mentoring Academy, launched in 2024. Modeled after Christ’s own method of discipleship, the academy assigns each Fellow a Mentoring Guide to walk with them through a year-long journey. The curriculum weaves together three core threads:

 

1. Spiritual – Cultivating disciplines like daily quiet time, Scripture study, prayer and worship.
2. Professional – Navigating healthcare challenges with a Christian worldview, from ethics to interprofessional conflict.
3. Personal – Coaching on life issues such as relationships, finances and emotional wellness.

 

In May 2024, our first cohort of five Fellows—four physicians and one nurse practitioner—embarked on this journey. Through virtual and in-person sessions, they’ve been inspired by leaders like Dr. Farr Curlin and Dr. Darilyn Falck, engaged in rich discussions with residents and equipped with practical tools to mentor the next generation of healthcare professionals.

 

These pioneers graduated in May 2025, and a new cohort of 10 Fellows began their journey. Each one is a faithful laborer in Christ’s harvest field, ready to invest their lives in others who will do the same. This is not just a program—it’s a movement of multiplication.

 

I invite you to prayerfully consider how God might be calling you to engage. Are there trainees in your hospital, your clinic or your community who need encouragement, guidance and spiritual companionship? Could you be the mentor they are longing for? You don’t need to be perfect—you just need to be present, available and anchored in Christ.

 

In the words of Paul to Timothy: “And the things you have heard me say…entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). May we, as members of CMDA and the body of Christ, take up this charge with joy and faithfulness—for the glory of God and the healing of a broken world.

 

Get Involved

Now is the time to take your next steps and get involved with CMDA’s Mentoring and Discipleship Commission. To learn more, visit cmdamentor.org.

 

About the Author

Francis Nuthalapaty, MD, is a maternal-fetal medicine physician, Chair of the CMDA Mentoring and Discipleship Commission and Director of the CMDA Mentoring Academy.  Dr. Nuthalapaty has a passion for impacting the professional and spiritual formation of trainees since he became a follower of Christ, serving in educational leadership roles in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. He currently serves as the founding Program Director for the Obstetrics and Gynecology residency program at AdventHealth – Tampa.

 

Quotes from Fellows and Guides

These will be placed as pull quotes throughout the article layout

 

“Being available, being interested and showing up are wonderful selfless gifts provided by mentors.”

—Joyce Johnson, MN/FNP, Mentoring Academy Fellow

 

“Participating in the mentoring academy with CMDA has given me clarity and confidence in how to combine my desire to disciple young health professionals while providing mentorship for practical steps that will help them during their medical careers. The CMDA mentoring guides have been dedicated and inspiring. I would highly recommend participating in this program!”

—Eric Penniman, DO, Mentoring Academy Fellow

 

“Mentoring is a collaborative relationship between a more experienced person (the mentor) who guides and supports the professional and personal development of someone else (the mentee). A Christian mentoring relationship is dedicated to crafting the mentor and mentee into more spiritually mature Christians who then apply that spiritual maturity throughout their daily lives. The CMDA Mentoring Academy equips you to mentor to a unique group of people—Christian medical students, residents and physicians.”

—Craig Amnott, DO, Mentoring Academy Fellow

 

“I have had many opportunities to mentor those around me, but historically for me, it’s largely been career-based or educational in nature, mostly devoid of purposeful spiritual development. The most meaningful aspect of the academy experience, by far, has been the interactions with my mentoring guide. He has taught me through example how to lovingly engage other men around me with an intentional push to grow in Christ. He has shown deep interest in the challenges I’ve faced, and he never fails to pray with me. He has been like a father to me.”

—Darrell Baskin, MD, Mentoring Academy Fellow

 

“The Mentoring Academy has been one of the highlights of my career and my walk with Christ. I was blessed with experienced mentors who encouraged me while challenging me.  I loved meeting like-minded healthcare professionals who have a heart for discipleship. I will forever be grateful to have been a member of the first academy!”

—Leah S. Cobb Snodgrass, MD, Mentoring Academy Fellow

 

“What a great honor it was to invest a year of my life in two fellows in the academy! Watching them grow in their understanding of biblical discipleship and mentoring and catching the vision to invest their lives in younger physicians was extremely exciting and rewarding!”

—Bill Geiger, MD, Mentoring Academy Guide

 

“God wants CMDA members to feel called to mentoring and not to feel that it is something for a few to do. If you feel called, then what is the next step? You need training, because there is a lot to learn about the up-and-coming younger generation in CMDA. You need to understand the topics they are struggling with as well as what their perspectives are on those topics—it is likely a bit different from yours.”

—Elisa Ghezzi, Mentoring Academy Guide

 

“Being a guide was a very enriching experience for me. Getting to know our two fellows over the year developed our friendship to a vulnerable and deep level, as we shared our faith journeys together.”

—Patricia Francis, MD, Mentoring Academy Guide