Do you want to know the latest information and news about today's important healthcare topics? Join the conversation with The Point, CMDA's blog focusing on breaking news stories in bioethics and healthcare. CMDA's experts contribute to the blog and also recommend additional resources and information.

The purpose of this blog is to stimulate thought and discussion about important issues in healthcare. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of CMDA. We encourage you to join the conversation on our website and share your experience, insight and expertise. CMDA has a rigorous and representative process in formulating official positions, which are largely limited to bioethical areas.

Saying, “This is as good as it gets”

By Robert E. Cranston, MD, MA (Ethics) | December 8, 2022

I have a dear Christian friend of whom I have finally had to say, “This is as good as it gets,” and leave him in the Lord’s hands.

The Star of Bethlehem: A Mystery of the Ages

By Steven Willing, MD | December 1, 2022

One of the most beloved Christmas symbols, the Star of Bethlehem has historic connections appreciated by few. This is a review and comparison of the newest theories.

The Travails of Moral Distress for the Abortionist

By Jeffrey Barrows, DO, MA (Bioethics) | November 28, 2022

It will come as no surprise that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently released a special issue filled with articles and opinions arguing for the absolute necessity of access to legal abortion. One opinion that caught my attention was entitled “Implications of the Dobbs Decision for Medical Education Inadequate Training and Moral Distress.” CMDA recently publicly released a new position statement on moral distress, so I was naturally intrigued. Were the authors of this opinion piece actually going to make the argument that the lack of access to elective abortion, a procedure that has been considered immoral for thousands of years, will cause moral distress among upcoming students and residents? Exactly.

With Justice for All

By Amy Givler, MD | November 23, 2022

Let me introduce you to Aidah. She worked in our home (our “inside worker”) during the eight months our family lived in Kenya in 2003/2004. Don and I worked at Tenwek Mission Hospital as family physicians, and our three children attended elementary and middle school at nearby Rift Valley Academy. She helped me buy food and cook it, and she kept our house clean. Aidah was our backbone. She was a rock.

Back to Normal Life

By Autumn Dawn Galbreath, MD, MBA | November 21, 2022

Is life starting to feel normal again for you? By normal, I guess I mean pre-2020. Is life starting to feel the way it did before COVID and political intensity stretched us further as a society than we might have thought possible just two and a half years ago?

The Debate About Organ Donations

By Christine C. Toevs, MD | October 25, 2022

Organ transplantation has saved countless lives, increasing the demand for unpaired solid organs. As a result, the protocols for organ procurement continue to change to include more patients as “dead.”

Top Ten Myths of the Sexual Revolution: Part 2

By Steven Willing, MD | October 20, 2022

In this installment, we consider myths concerning marriage, sexual “repression” and the impact of the sexual revolution for women.

The Slippery Slope and Inevitability

By Robert E. Cranston, MD, MA (Ethics) | October 13, 2022

As James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (NKJV).

Mentorship in Uncertain Times

By Kathryn Butler, MD | October 6, 2022

I recently had the pleasure of hosting a medical student in my home for a (mediocre) waffle breakfast (my sub-par cooking, not hers). She was a completing a sub-internship locally, and it was a joy to hear how her faith in Christ had inspired her to practice in resource-poor settings. I listened with a grin on my face as she described her heart for the downtrodden and afflicted, the mentors whose compassion inspired her and how she saw the Lord at work daily in her chosen specialty.

We Have This Understanding

By Nicole D. Hayes | September 29, 2022

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2, NIV).

Don’t Use Ice Picks for Brain Surgery

By Amy Givler, MD | September 22, 2022

The first time I ever heard of a lobotomy was in the early 1980s. I was a medical student, but I didn’t learn about it in class. Instead, I was in a darkened room with a bunch of other family members, watching a family home movie filmed 30 years earlier. The scene was some kind of a garden party, and in the midst of the lively antics of my parents, their siblings and my great-aunts and great-uncles, there was a late middle-aged woman who just…stood there. Eventually someone took her arm and led her to a chair where she just…sat there. Completely still, no facial expression, no interaction with anyone else.

What Comes After the “But?”

By Autumn Dawn Galbreath, MD, MBA | September 15, 2022

Coming out of the darkest days of COVID, I entered 2022 feeling bludgeoned by the experience I had just endured, both in medical practice and in society around me. I felt emotionally broke, overwhelmed and lost, to use some of Ms. Morrissette’s words. I was drowning in negative emotions and feeling psychologically depleted. My natural response was to grit my teeth and force myself to keep going. To get through each shift by ignoring my feelings and retreating into my knowledge.

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