Washington, DC—May 18, 2018–The 19,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA,www.cmda.org) today expressed support for administration plans to disentangle taxpayer funds from abortion as a method of family planning.
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Beacon Christian Community Health Center (www.beaconcchc.com), in conjunction with personnel from South Korea and Europe, created a first-of-its-kind comprehensive outpatient protocol at the start of the height of COVID-19 cases in New York City.
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The “Parent Resource Guide: Responding to the Transgender Issue” is a just-released project of the Minnesota Family Council available gratis at www.GenderResourceGuide.com. Print copies can be purchased as well.
It is endorsed by organizations right (Heritage Foundation and Family Policy Alliance), center (Kelsey Coalition and Parents of ROGD Kids) and left (Women’s Liberation Front). Their stated common concerns are the “negative consequences that result when society regards bodily sex as irrelevant,” and the belief that “public schools should never feel pressured to force boys and girls to sacrifice their bodily privacy, promote unscientific theories about human biology, or celebrate ideas that place young children on a path to chemical sterilization or cosmetic ‘gender confirmation’ surgery.” I was honored to be one of many who were invited to help shape its content.
In my previous life, I was Dr. Sandy Dettmann, the director of pediatric emergency services at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I lived in a 6,000 sq. foot, custom-built home in the affluent suburb of Ada, had a gorgeous husband, was mother to five beautiful babies, served as president of my young children’s PTO and was my daughter’s Girl Scout leader. It was an idyllic and seemingly perfect life. But it didn’t last.
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In July 2012, I was lying in an emergency department in Destin, Florida, wondering how a little gallbladder could cause me so much pain. I prayed for the pain to stop, and thankfully it did. The problem, however, did not go away. And as I headed home from the beach the next day, I grew more and more anxious about the upcoming healthcare mission trip to Haiti I was scheduled to go on in just two weeks with CMDA’s Global Health Outreach (GHO).
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Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Short-term mission trips are a waste. They do more harm than good. Americans only go on mission trips to help feel better about themselves and their lives. Short-term teams aren’t trained to serve cross-culturally.
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My eldest child left for college this fall, having chosen to attend school in Scotland. Yes, that’s right. Scotland. It’s a long way away. It’s also a place I had never previously visited. We went on a family trip to Scotland in March—partly to visit the school he now attends, and partly to have one last bang-up family vacation before we became a family that no longer lives under one roof. On that trip, we had not one, but two, flat tires on our rental car. A consequence of our struggles driving on the left side of the road, perhaps?
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Preparing to meet my next patient, I pick the next chart up off the counter. “Bob Smith,” married middle-aged patient, chief complaint: STD check. “Weird,” I think, “Mary Smith’s husband’s name is Bob, too. What a coincidence.” I open the exam room door, and Mary Smith’s husband, Bob Smith, is sitting inside.
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Depending on your practice, within the foreseeable future any number of patients are going to pause on the way out of the exam room, hand on the doorknob, to ask one question or another about alternative medical therapies. For example, one patient might want to know what you think of the “hallelujah diet,” which her friend believes to be divinely inspired.
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I’ve used this assessment with hundreds and hundreds of new patients over the last 25 years; however, this spiritual assessment tool, like most described in the medical literature, fails to inquire about a critical item involving spiritual health: religious struggle.
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Human Trafficking affects numerous children and teens throughout the world. One of the significant health consequences of this are mental health problems. Of note are high rates of anxiety, depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) identified in multiple studies of trafficked children. Full medical care of these individuals therefore will entail screening for the symptoms of mental health disorders. Treatment should involve therapy as much is available in the areas where they are recovering and learning to return to normal life. Medications can be considered for these mental health diagnoses as well with care taken in prescribing for children and teenagers. This article gives a framework for primary care professionals to establish mental healthcare as part of their management of children and adolescents who have been through human trafficking.
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As representatives of over 30,000 physicians who practice according to the Hippocratic Oath, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), the American College of Pediatricians, Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the Catholic Medical Association, and the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons decry the call to continue elective abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic made by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and others which falsely characterize elective abortion as essential healthcare.
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Brief filed by Americans United for Life in support of Plaintiffs, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Bruce Rauner and Bryan Schneider. Amici includes American Association of Prolife Obstetricians and Gynecologist, American College of Pediatricians, Christian Medical and Dental Associations and Heartbeat International.
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The freedom of speech is a bedrock principle of our nation, enshrined in the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The right to speak or not to speak, however, is not unlimited. There are certain narrow exceptions when the government can, in fact, compel speech, including in the commercial or professional context. But the disclosure required by the California Reproductive FACT Act is neither commercial speech nor professional speech. See Pet. Br. Part II.A–B. Nor does the Act regulate informed consent by any medical standard. See id. Part II.C.
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When Lee and I were married in 1984 we thought 12 children would be a good number for our family. We further decided that ours would be “God blended” of six biological and six adopted Klopfensteins. However, as is always the case, God was in control and after some years of infertility, it became apparent that it was time to pursue the first adoption.
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Letter to Representative Kevin McCarthy regarding the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 36).
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As you know, several U.S. jurisdictions have passed legislation giving doctors immunity from civil and criminal liability for assisting the suicide of persons diagnosed with terminal disabilities. Tragically, in these jurisdictions and for this class of persons, and for them alone, suicides are now facilitated by physicians, usually with no psychological assessment or other medical treatment, typically with no consultation with family and loved ones, and in every case without the interventions and protections provided as a matter of course to all other suicidal persons.
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As members of the Commission on Human Trafficking of the Christian Medical Association, we are writing to protest the attempt to decriminalize commercial sex with the “Community Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2019”. This attempt to decriminalize the degradation of mostly women and girls in commercial sex as well as the sex buyer is morally and ethically wrong.
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Sometimes reality is far more awe-inspiring than anything even the most imaginative of writers could dream up. Decades ago, the idea that a woman could become pregnant with her adopted child seemed like science fiction. However, reproductive medicine has long since crossed biological boundaries in ways that once seemed impossible, creating complex problems that require morally sound, technology-driven solutions. Since 2003, the Knoxville, Tennessee-based National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) has been the national leader for one such solution: embryo donation/embryo adoption (ED/EA). The NEDC specializes in honoring life in its very earliest stages and facilitating pregnancies for women who want to carry their adopted children. And these days, the ministry is busier than ever, adding new initiatives and team members to expand the quality and scope of its life-affirming work.
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As Christians in healthcare, we are called to take our faith into the workplace, whether it be in a clinic, in a hospital or in academia. My journey in medicine led me from the clinic into academia. I actually consider myself an accidental academician who never meant to end up in charge of training a portion of the physician assistant workforce. This, however, is exactly why I am writing this story, to encourage my colleagues and help them understand who the sheep are, why they need feeding, how to feed them and when to stop feeding them.
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Letter to the Editor of CHEST (American College of Chest Physicians) opposing physician-assisted suicide in response to article by Attorney Kathryn Tucker’s article pushing physicians to help patients dye.
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As I entered “Ms. V’s” room, I could see her neck and leg braces, and as I came around the dental chair to greet her, I could see pain in her face. Two days before, she was hit by a car while crossing the road and her two front teeth were broken all the way to the nerve. It was obvious her entire body hurt, but she said the pain from her teeth was simply unbearable.
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Five hundred million heathens have not yet been evangelized, so it is computed! Yet our great Missionary Societies have reached high water-mark, and if they have not already begun to retrench they are seriously thinking of doing so. Meanwhile, the heart of Asia, the heart of Africa, and well nigh the whole continent of South America, are untouched with the Gospel of Christ.
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Twenty years ago, God called me to return to Cuba, the country where I was raised by my parents before it was overtaken by a communist regime that vehemently opposed my belief in Christ and severely discriminated against people of faith. And yet, it was the country that desperately needed to hear about the love of Christ.
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That was something we heard repeatedly from overseas workers as we prepared to move to North Africa. It’s easier to see the truth in that now, as I sit writing this on a bed covered by a mosquito net and listening to the loudspeaker from my neighborhood mosque, all from within my house surrounded by sand and Muslims.
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The patient had been paralyzed four months earlier by a gunshot, leaving him unable to move or even talk. The young man’s wife had lovingly been providing complete care, hoping her husband would recover, but Dr. Judy knew there was no chance of improvement.
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CMDA affirms the historic and enduring Christian understanding of humankind as having been created male and female. CMDA has concerns about recent usage of the term “gender” to emphasize an identity other than one’s biological sex, that is, a sense of self based on subjective feelings or desires of identifying more strongly with the opposite sex or with some combination of male and female.
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By the time you read these words, America will have finally chosen a new president after seemingly endless years of primary races, campaigning, debates and grudge matches pitting candidate against candidate. Chances are, whether you voted for the eventual winner or not, you shoulder at least some measure of concern for the future of our country.
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A few months ago, a student came up after our CMDA weekly campus luncheon and exclaimed, “I am so glad for CMDA! This is my church.” That statement is great affirmation of the work God is doing in our local groups and in the lives of students. However, it also raises an important question about the role of CMDA within the broader body of Christ—the church.
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I’ve been a family doctor in the same location for 30 years, so many of my patients have been with me a decade…or two…or three. Following people through their life stages has been a joy. We’ve grown older together. I’ve been acutely aware of this in the last two weeks as I’ve called patients to reschedule them. I’ve wanted to call them myself to make sure they don’t need anything, because I’d rather they avoid any medical facility for the next six months.
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Transgenderism is a hot topic in today’s culture. We feel it is important to respond appropriately in a Christian manner when faced with this topic of discussion, as well as when dealing with it in the healthcare profession.
Read MoreWe could give you a list a mile long with statistics about the work we do around the world. But those numbers don’t really show the amazing things God is doing through us as we seek to be “Transformed Doctors, Transforming the World.”
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If someone offered me a parka in a blizzard, I’d take it. Same with a hat in Death Valley, soup during a famine or a parachute in freefall. I’d not only take these things, I’d lunge for them. You would too. When desperate, we accept help.
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Despite the Authority of Scripture, there are those who are confused on this issue and from that confusion (combined with political correctness) there are professionals guiding individuals through the process of hormonal treatment (as normal) and very tragically, even surgical interventions.
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A panel of Princeton University scientists recently gathered together to deliberate “whether strong religious belief can coexist with reliance on science.”2 Constraining their definition of truth to “factual human knowledge,” the panel, led by professor of molecular biology Lee Silver, posed the provocative question, whether “science has effectively demonstrated that religious beliefs have no place in the rational mind.”2 How one decides that question guides the answer to a related question essential for the Christian physician. How can faith in Jesus Christ coexist with medical science
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Human Trafficking is happening in our community. It’s a fact we must face, the FBI says, in order to put an end to it. WBTV’s special, Human Trafficking in the Carolinas, focuses on one woman’s journey from being enslaved for sex, to her rescue and salvation.
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Chart your dental future with students of like mind. Come ready to be challenged and encouraged by the implications of faith in dentistry – and beyond.
October 29-30: Augusta, GA
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CMDA Greater New York facilitates gatherings for students to fellowship with like minded peers and with Christian graduate professionals to build relationships that promote growth professionally and personally.
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Last January, I had the opportunity to join an amazing group of women on the House of Hope mission trip. While the entire trip was incredible, I was taken aback by the normalcy of prostitution. Even its local name, “sitting in the chair,” was commonplace.
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It happened so quickly, it seems. One moment it was business as usual: reviewing lab cases, getting ready for boards, opening our practice doors for patients to arrive, joking with staff and colleagues throughout the day and planning to attend the next mission trip, church service, conference, wedding or other event. It feels as if we all became affected at the same time. In an instant those jokes were replaced by concern as dental boards were put on hold, our office closed to routine dental care, we became unemployed or we put some of our staff on unemployment to keep the practice afloat in the midst of uncertainty. Our plans got cancelled one by one, our normal way of life crumbled. It’s now challenging to find one broadcast, social media post, YouTube video, email or conversation that does not mention “virus,” “pandemic” or “COVID-19”.
Read MoreThe problem for many Christians is that they have no concept they are living in a war zone. Too many Christians trudge half numb through this life oblivious to the perils all around them.
Read More![CMDA Dental Residency [+]](https://cmda.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dentalresidency.png)
ogether, CMDA’s dental members are a diverse group of dental professionals and our experience spans the scope of dentistry: from a small solo practice to large group practices; from serving the wealthiest Americans to working amongst the poorest; and from short-term missions experience to a lifetime call to serve in the most remote areas of the world. We have dental faculty members including some of the top dental lectures in country, authors, military dentists, dentists involved in residency and advanced training programs and, of course, many dental students on campuses across the country.
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I grew up in a Christian home and I don’t remember life without Jesus. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor and I attributed it to a God-ordained calling on my life.
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Perhaps the greatest damage that can be done in our efforts as Christians to “defend the faith” is to do so with a spirit of pride. More arguments are lost by arrogance in our attitudes than by errors in our reasoning! Our apologetics must be humble because the God we serve is humble.
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Donate About Student Life Connect Grow Online Resource Portal Student Pulse Podcast Webinar Series Doing the Right Thing Christian Friendly Residences Student & Resident Life Blog Student Life Apparel CMDA App Lead Campus Leadership Training National Leadership Opportunities Leading Your Campus Chapter National Student Community Go Global Health Outreach International Rotations Healthcare for the Poor…
Read More2020 will go down as a year to remember, a year many want to forget. But this Christmas season, let’s commit to renewed adoration of our Savior.
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Allan Josephson, MD, is Professor and Chief, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Pediatrics with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
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There are several types of human trafficking including forced labor, sex trafficking, forced child labor, bonded labor, involuntary domestic servitude, debt bondage among migrant laborers and child soldiers. Human trafficking occurs in every part of the world, from less developed countries to more developed countries. As such, it is a crime under U.S. and international law.
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In partnership with Global Health Outreach, WPC organizes mission trips to House of Hope in Managua, Nicaragua. These trips offer participants an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of girls and women caught in human trafficking. We will be working at House of Hope, an amazing place where the physical, spiritual, economic and educational needs of women in sex slavery (both girls who have been trafficked and women caught in prostitution) are addressed.
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What is it to be a leader? I don’t see myself as a natural leader, but whether I like it or not, my job makes me a leader. As a doctor I am leading each of my patients to a life, we both hope, of better health.
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The first introduction to opioids for teenagers and young adults is often in the dentist’s office when they are prescribed pain medications following oral surgery. However, because opioid prescriptions may be associated with subsequent opioid abuse in this patient population, alternative therapies for managing acute dental pain may be warranted.
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We don’t watch It’s a Wonderful Life every Christmas—it is always on our must-watch list, but I am pretty sure that is because it is my favorite and so the family tries to appease me. But trust me, if schedules are too busy, and we don’t get through our entire Christmas list, this is definitely the one that doesn’t get watched.
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“Whatever you do, work at it with all you heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24, NIV 1984).
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One of the worship songs this morning at church was “Peace Be Still” (featuring Lauren Daigle). I had never heard it before, but it stirred up various thoughts I’ve had and set them together like puzzle pieces. I have many times been like the disciples or Peter in the midst of “storms.” I’ve been dismayed that, from my perspective, Jesus could be asleep while something so crazy is happening in my life. I have also been in seasons where things are so great and then, all of a sudden, I realize I’m out on the water and freak out and let myself sink. Both times, Jesus has been with me, just like He was with them. Merciful Savior, asking me how I could doubt because He was there the entire time and is more powerful than any storm.
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One of the most common reasons healthcare professionals give for not joining or renewing their membership is that they do not have time to be involved. Membership does not obligate you to participate in any of the ministries of CMDA. These ministries are there when or if you need them, either serving you or serving others.
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“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:8-11, KJV).
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With the weather warming, I now can wear my favorite sun visor. The words “Missoula Marathon” are written across the headband with a silhouette of a moose that has running shoes dangling from his antlers. It’s super cute. But as I wear it like a trophy, people don’t realize the backstory.
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For more than 80 years, we have pursued one goal—to transform the lives of healthcare professionals so they can transform the world. Through more than 40 programs including campus and community ministries, medical missions, public policy and much more, CMDA continues to be a driving force in healthcare—enriching hundreds of thousands of lives each year.
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After training for a few months, I met some of my dearest girlfriends for a Side By Side reunion weekend in Minnesota a few years ago. We ran a 10K together, and by “together” I mean we were all either IN the 10K or the sister-5K but our paces were varied, so the together part was definitely at the beginning and the end.
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My life hasn’t always been busy. My husband’s residency, for example, was not a busy time for me. He, of course, had an overloaded schedule, but I had left the workforce and entered life as a stay-at-home mom. Difficult? Yes, beautifully difficult. Rushed? Not so much.
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In a few days, we will be voting on who will be the President and Vice President for the coming four years. To say that this is important to us all is an understatement. It is not only important to the United States of America, but it is also important to the entire world, especially in light of COVID-19 and its subsequent fallout. Countries all over the world have been affected by the pandemic and by the economic consequences of it as well.
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“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).
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Dr. Joy Riley raises several ethical questions introduced by the production of “blastoids,” embryo-like structures from stem cells in a recent study.
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Grants for travel expenses of medically-trained individuals exploring and/or beginning medical service in East Asia with preference to those working with MSI Professional Services or OMF International.
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I recently returned to work from my maternity leave and was reflecting on what I learned from the time off. The thing that stood out to me most was how incredible it was to have community in my life with family and with the church body. They helped my husband and me in so many ways with our children as we transitioned into life with a newborn and a toddler. Seeing how God used these people to help us in this time of life also showed me how I had taken for granted the encouragement He’s given me in my working life through community as well.
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Huh? Elvis gave hound dogs everywhere a bad name forever. And yet, if we can get beyond Elvis’ body contortions and those mindless lyrics, we may be able to grasp the reality that God is, in fact, a lot like a hound dog. Think about it. Bloodhounds are noted for their ability to follow a scent for long distances. Once on the trail they are famous for their tenacity.
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Membership Donate Now About Student Life Connect Grow Student Pulse Podcast Online Resource Portal Webinar Series The VIE Poster Session Doing the Right Thing Christian Friendly Residences Student & Resident Life Blog Student Life Apparel Lead Campus Leadership Training National Leadership Opportunities Regional Leadership Opportunities Leading Your Campus Chapter National Student Community Go Global Health…
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Why do you follow Jesus?
These are answers I hear a lot: The Bible says so. I grew up in a Christian home. I had an experience with God.
But we are told our lives will be more difficult. That does not sound good. There will be a reward, but not necessarily in this lifetime. Jesus is not always a “nice guy.” Do we want to believe what is pleasant and easy, or what is true? Even though I don’t like my phone bill, I know it is true.
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Side By Side is a network of local chapters that encourage and minister to women in healthcare marriages through fellowship and Bible study. We are a CMDA ministry for women who are married to medical and dental students, residents and fellows, as well as staff physicians and dentists. We are a non-denominational, Bible-based ministry that is evangelical in nature. We seek to encourage, support and minister to women in medical marriages through fellowship, Bible study and prayer. We commit to standing side by side our husbands, side by side our sisters in Christ and side by side our Lord.
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As Christians in our present society, we feel responsibility to represent our heavenly Father who created us in His image and called us to be His children, the human signposts pointing all those around us to Him. What does this look like in our lives as Christian healthcare professionals in the public square?
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Encouraging MD/DO residents and fellows to serve the underserved cross-culturally and in doing so to seek the Lord’s will for their lifetime involvement in medical missions.
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Last year I read a book by Os Guinness entitled Impossible People. I read something that really set me back on my heels:
“The truth is that the world, as Christians have known it for many centuries, has gone—gone and gone for good…gone so decisively, any simple return or reclamation is out of the question—Christian culture warring has been in vain” (p. 45).
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Nik Ripken (pseudonym) is a Christian aid worker who has served in the most dangerous regions of the world. In his book The Insanity of God, he tells the story of his time in Somalia during the “Black Hawk Down” days. Christianity was extremely dangerous to promote and deadly for Somalians to accept as truth.
Read MoreA program designed to serve domestic and international healthcare missionaries in their work as well as aid in the recruitment and retention of career medical missionaries. CMM also assists students with scholarships and overseas rotations.
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“Doctors make the worst patients,” or so the saying goes. Being trained as a physician myself, I refuse to comment, because I am a little biased. But, since I am also married to a physician, I can say that doctors are often non-compliant patients. I could tell you stories that would prove this, but I won’t do so here. You probably have your own examples!
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We are a multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals and Jesus followers who have a passion for using and teaching ultrasound, with the goal of equipping Christian international healthcare workers to incorporate ultrasound into their practice of medicine in the most challenging of settings.
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I recently found a love note from a young wife to her medical student spouse. I’ll warn you; it’s mushy with ignorant glee. See for yourself:
“I love you. I’d love you the same if you were a park ranger. I’d love you the same if we had nothing because even then, we would have each other and God’s blessing and love for our marriage. We are so richly blessed by agape love. Everything else is details—icing on the cake. The way you’ve used the intelligence God blessed you with over the past two years of medical school is astounding. Today you are crossing into unknown territory. I feel so privileged to be sharing the experience by your side….”
James P. Owen had a keen interest in missionary medicine. He died in 1981 while a senior medical student at Southwestern Medical School. The James P. Owen Memorial Endowment Fund was established by his wife in loving memory of her husband.
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She just needed to soften the butter, but she put it in the microwave and then walked away to do the next task. By the time my daughter remembered, the butter was not just soft, it was completely liquefied and unusable for the recipe she was making.
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You could easily argue that my first six months on the mission field in Kenya were a waste of time and energy. Jody and I, along with our 3-year-old son Jason and 1-year-old daughter Jessica, weren’t living at Tenwek Hospital, where God had called us to serve. Instead, we were stationed 35 miles south of the hospital at Kaboson, a two-hour mud-slogging drive in the rainy season if you didn’t get stuck.
Read MoreA program designed to serve domestic and international healthcare missionaries in their work as well as aid in the recruitment and retention of career medical missionaries. CMM also assists students with scholarships and overseas rotations.
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I once finished the Chicago Marathon. I ran right through the city uninhibited by the two million people who lived there. It was really something. I ran freely through a maze of normally congested streets. There were people pressing in on every side, yet I was unrestrained to work toward my goal. Do you know why?
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Regardless of your practice setting, you encounter them also. Those uncertain of themselves yet confident in the need that has violated their entire body. That need for more, the need to fabricate pain just to get more.
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The census taker arrived just as Wade was pulling in from a long stretch at the hospital. He told me to go on doing what I was doing—cooking supper with three toddlers at my ankles—and he would answer the questions. When the census taker asked Wade how many hours he had worked the week before, I stuck my head out of the kitchen to hear his answer. “All,” I wanted to scream. He worked all the hours. Wade answered 130. I watched at the gentleman looked at his form, looked at Wade and looked back at the form. “Sir, we are only given two squares. Is it ok if I just put 99?”
Read MoreThe Christian Medical & Dental Associations® (CMDA) is made up of the Christian Medical Association (CMA) and the Christian Dental Association (CDA). CMDA provides resources, networking opportunities, education and a public voice for Christian healthcare professionals and students.
Founded in 1931, CMDA provides programs and services supporting its mission to “change hearts in healthcare” with a current membership over 19,000. CMDA promotes positions and addresses policies on healthcare issues; conducts overseas medical evangelism projects; coordinates a network of Christian healthcare professionals for fellowship and professional growth; sponsors student ministries in medical and dental schools; distributes educational and inspirational resources; hosts marriage and family conferences; provides Third World missionary healthcare professionals with continuing education resources; and conducts academic exchange programs overseas. By being the “hands of Jesus” to needy people, CMDA seeks to fulfill His Great Commandment (Matthew 22:39; 25:36) and His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19).
The Christian Medical & Dental Associations® is a 501(c)3 and is governed by a Board of Trustees and House of Delegates. Policies of CMDA are interpreted and applied by the Board of Trustees, which also establishes the guidelines for the executive director and his staff. An elected House of Delegates assists the board with recommendations on courses of action. The House of Delegates is composed of graduate, student, resident and missionary members who are elected for three-year terms by district and meets annually at the CMDA National Convention. Approximately 75 employees currently make up the staff of CMDA in the national office and U.S. field offices.
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Physician-Assisted Suicide | End-of-Life Decision-Making | Research ethics | The Importance of Palliative Care | Right of Conscience | Medical Ethics
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The real question that must be answered when it comes to missions is not Where? or How? Or even Who? The real question is Why? If we can answer this question, all other questions will take care of themselves.
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“We need to get back to the basics of life, a heart that is pure and a love that is blind, a faith that is fervently grounded in Christ, the hope that endures for all times. These are the basics, we need to get back to the basics of life.”
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“And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them” (John 17.10, NKJV)
Resurrection Sunday blesses the calendars of our lives uniquely this Sunday. It lifts up the life of our Lord as a model for so many transitions we face along the journey into which Christ has commissioned us. The passion of our Lord’s heart – poured out in His high priestly prayer of Gethsemane’s Garden – reveals how Jesus evaluated the preparations He made for the transition He would face.
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The James S. Westra Memorial Fund was established in 1981 to provide scholarships for students to do rotations in mission hospitals.
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“Everyone who is called by name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7, NIV 1984).
In Part 1 of this blog series, a search for the meaning of life was presented. That was due to observations of recent events suggesting a concern for humanity’s appreciation for life. In that search, a scientific basis for the meaning of life was presented, but then it was argued to be self-limiting. In contrast, a Christian worldview was presented, and a clearer meaning for why God created us was introduced. Simply, God created us for His glory. As I mentioned in Part 1, being informed that our existence is for some known or unknown God’s glory may instill negative emotions. However, the purpose of this blog is to grow in greater understanding of what it means to be created for God’s glory. To better understand that meaning, let us first look at the biblical meaning of the word “glory.”
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The topic of slavery and racism couldn’t be more relevant in this age of social justice we are in right now. It goes without saying that racism is evil. Genesis 1:27 makes very clear that all are created in the image of God. The image of God, or Imago Dei in Latin, refers to the fact that humans were made uniquely and separately from all the rest of creation in a way that reflects God’s image in our moral, spiritual and intellectual essence. It means that in certain aspects, and in an imperfect sense, we resemble God. It is because we are image bearers of God that our lives have intrinsic worth, and this of course goes for all humans. It is precisely because we are made in God’s image that racism is evil. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about this frequently as the basis for civil rights. He argued that the brotherhood of man is dependent upon the fatherhood of God. Reject the latter and you erode the foundation of the former.
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Her eyes met mine as she poured out her heart: “I have a great husband. A wonderful child. We matched and already sold our house. So, why do I feel so depressed?”
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The cliché phrase that is our life’s goal: pearly whites for all our patients. But are pearly whites enough?
Working at a mission hospital in rural Africa, I try to do as much as possible before taking an x-ray. Much of my examination is done just visually, until I can convince a patient an x-ray really is necessary. With this style of examination comes a bit of guess work, and sometimes, it is the “tooth that looks normal” that is actually the problem!
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We are a community of Christian academic physicians and scientists who are committed to helping one another discern and live up to our faith-based calling. We endeavor to transform our academic communities through faith, fellowship, and scholarship.
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They were young and bright and full of promise. There was so much they could do, so much they wanted to do, so much they were afraid of not doing. Where do you start when you find yourself there? You walk in the light that God has given you.
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Water is wonderful, glorious stuff. Being from the Gulf Coast originally, I now chafe a bit at my adopted (but sadly landlocked) Nebraska. The only water I can get in here year-round is chlorinated; but I am happy to do that. And every time I find myself up to my elbows in it, trudging from one side of the pool to the other, I try and thank God for creating this beautiful, amazing wet stuff. It simultaneously buoys me up and resists my movements. It also provides many opportunities for me to improve and challenge myself. It is just what I need.
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