Volume 48 No. 4 • Winter 2017
Today’s
Christian Doctor The Journal of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations
DEVELOPMENT
GENUINE CHANGE THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
RENEW
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YOUR MIND
at TRANSFORM: CMDA’s National Convention The premier convention for Christian healthcare professionals
PLENARY SPEAKERS
April 26-29, 2018 Ridgecrest Conference Center Ridgecrest, North Carolina www.cmda.org/nationalconvention
Rev. Jon Barnett
Ellie Lofaro
Hon. Joe Pitts
David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics)
FROM THE CMDA PRESIDENT AL WEIR, MD
LIVING FOR THE ETERNAL
“T
he question—that which at the age of fifty brought me to the edge of the abyss—was the simplest of questions… ‘What will come of what I am doing today or shall do tomorrow? What will come of my whole life?’… My deeds whatever they may be will be forgotten sooner or later, and I myself will be no more, why then do anything? I therefore could not attach a rational meaning to a single act of my entire life. The only thing that amazed me was how I had failed to realize this from the very beginning.” —Tolstoy, The Confession This is why CMDA exists.
This is why I devote myself to CMDA. Either Tolstoy is correct about the meaning of life, or he is not. Jesus Christ says he is not. If Tolstoy is wrong, and Jesus is right, my life must be radically different than my colleagues who do not follow Christ. Most of my colleagues seek to live good lives and devote themselves to caring for their patients. As healthcare professionals, we have the privilege of doing great work, saving lives and ending suffering—for what end? Tolstoy said, “Is there any meaning in my life [or the lives of those I serve] that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?” Jesus Christ says, “Yes!” Life is either eternal with meaning or life ends with death that destroys all meaning. Because Christ has come, my outcome and the outcome of all the patients I serve has radically changed, from inevitable death to continual life, depending on our response to the Savior. “And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” ( John 11:26a, ESV). For this reason, followers of Christ like Dr. Mark Crouch (who wrote the cover story in this edition of Today’s Christian Doctor) can take the precious days of their lives and spend them bringing life to the people of Papua New Guinea, rather than squeezing all the gusto out of their own lives at home. For this reason, followers of Christ like Dr. Rick Donlon can live among the poor for whom they care in inner city Memphis, Tennessee, rather than beside the rest of us in the suburbs. For this reason, countless followers of Christ practice in ordinary practices but with extraordinary compassion, giving more than they receive, with ordinary patients, with the Master’s love poured out in words and touch, words and touch that bring the
eternal into the mundane and bring life to people who would all someday die, were it not for Jesus. It is this eternal nature of life that gives our present living all of its value. And even more important than the duration of our lives, it is our relationship with the Christ who lengthens our days that makes our lives eternally valuable. That’s why I am devoted to CMDA, because Tolstoy is wrong, because I choose to live for the eternal—and I need help to do it better. CMDA brings us stories of men and women like Mark and Rick, so we might learn from them and incorporate their dedication into our own lives. CMDA provides pathways of service in missions through Global Health Outreach and Medical Education International, so we might step onto these focused pathways of gospel-sharing and so we might understand the world as it really is, serve the world as it really is and then become the witnesses at home that we learned to be while serving elsewhere. CMDA provides guidance and nurture for over stuffed, over hurried, over burdened lives through countless conferences, publications, podcasts and coaching. CMDA brings the same guidance and nurture to the next generation of Christ-followers in healthcare professional schools throughout our nation. CMDA speaks biblical truth into our culture so our children and grandchildren will be free to live the life Christ calls them to live. I know Tolstoy is wrong, and I know my life with Christ fills each day with eternal significance and hands me a mission worth living for. But I also know I need some help in getting there, in becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ. So, as President of CMDA for the next two years, I invite you to drink deeply of all CMDA has to offer, serve fully in your mission as a healthcare professional for Christ and grow more like Him as we do this together.
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 3
TO DAY ’ S C H R I S T I A N D O C TO R
contents
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WINTER 2017
The Christian Medical & Dental Associations ®— Changing Hearts in Healthcare . . . since 1931.
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Transformed Doctors, Transforming the World
12 Cover Story Development: Genuine Change
featuring Dr. Bill and Patsy Lawton
Through Partnership
by Mark Crouch, MD
What is the role of Christian healthcare professionals in authentic community development?
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REMEDY: Healing For the Nations
by David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics)
Introducing CMDA’s new medical missions conference
Providing Healing After the Hurricane
by Cindy Anthis, MD
A CMDA member shares how her clinic responded to Hurricane Harvey
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Camaraderie in Faith: How CMDA’s Psychiatry Section Found Strength in Numbers
by Aaron Burch
A look back at the foundation of the Psychiatry Section and a look ahead to its future 4 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
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Q&A with David Barbe, MD
CMDA’s exclusive interview with the President of the American Medical Association
34
Classifieds
EDITOR Mandi Mooney EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Gregg Albers, MD; John Crouch, MD; Autumn Dawn Galbreath, MD; Curtis E. Harris, MD, JD; Van Haywood, DMD; Rebecca Klint-Townsend, MD; Robert D. Orr, MD; Debby Read, RN AD SALES Margie Shealy 423-8441000 DESIGN Ahaa! Design + Production PRINTING Pulp CMDA is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). Today’s Christian Doctor®, registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. ISSN 0009-546X, Winter 2017, Volume XLVIII, No. 4. Printed in the United States of America. Published four times each year by the Christian Medical & Dental Associations® at 2604 Highway 421, Bristol, TN 37620. Copyright© 2017, Christian Medical & Dental Associations®. All Rights Reserved. Distributed free to CMDA members. Nondoctors (US) are welcome to subscribe at a rate of $35 per year ($40 per year, international). Standard presort postage paid at Bristol, Tennessee. Undesignated Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New In-
ternational Version®, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Other versions are noted in the text. Christian Medical & Dental Associations P.O. Box 7500, Bristol, TN 37621 888-230-2637 main@cmda.org • www.cmda.org If you are interested in submitting articles to be considered for publication, visit www.cmda.org/publications for submission guidelines and details. Articles and letters published represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Acceptance of paid advertising from any source does not necessarily imply the endorsement of a particular program, product or service by CMDA. Any technical information, advice or instruction provided in this publication is for the benefit of our readers, without any guarantee with respect to results they may experience with regard to the same. Implementation of the same is the decision of the reader and at his or her own risk. CMDA cannot be responsible for any untoward results experienced as a result of following or attempting to follow said information, advice or instruction.
TRANSFORMATIONS
MEMBER AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS CMDA President-elect Gloria M. Halverson, MD, was recognized as the 2017 Physician of the Year by MedicalMissions. org. Dr. Halverson is professor emeritus of OB/Gyn at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is also a team leader for Global Health Outreach, leading trips to work with trafficked women and girls in Nicaragua. She also serves on CMDA’s Commission on Human Trafficking and has helped write the 11-module online curriculum on human trafficking for healthcare professionals. She lectures nationally and internationally on the subject and has co-authored a chapter for medical students about dealing with trafficking victims. CMDA Member Andrew S. Lamb, MD, was recently selected by the American Health Council as one of “America’s Best Doctors” for his continuous contributions to healthcare. Dr. Lamb is Vice President of Medical Affairs at Cone Health in Burlington, North Carolina, and he has more than 33 years of experience in internal medicine and as a physician leader. Dr. Lamb has led more than 40 mission trips through CMDA’s Global Health Outreach.
Regional Ministries Connecting you with other Christ-followers to help better motivate, equip, disciple and serve within your community Western Region Michael J. McLaughlin, MDiv P.O. Box 2169 Clackamas, OR 97015-2169 Office: 503-522-1950 west@cmda.org
Northeast Region Scott Boyles, MDiv P.O. Box 7500 Bristol, TN 37621 Office: 423-844-1092 scott.boyles@cmda.org
Midwest Region Allan J. Harmer, ThM 951 East 86th Street, Suite 200A Indianapolis, IN 46240 Office: 317-257-5885 cmdamw@cmda.org
Southern Region Grant Hewitt, MDiv P.O. Box 7500 Bristol, TN 37621 402-677-3252 south@cmda.org
CMDA Member Robert J. Lerer, MD, FAAP, received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Birmingham-Southern College where he received his bachelor’s degree in 1966. Dr. Lerer is associate professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He was a Cuban refugee in 1960 when his family fled to the U.S., but he felt called to return and has been leading healthcare mission trips to Cuba for the last 20 years. Most recently, he has been assisting in leading teams to Cuba with CMDA’s Medical Education International. The University of Vermont Medical Center recently hosted the inaugural Robert D. Orr Lecture in Medical Ethics, named in honor of CMDA Member Robert Orr, MD, CM. The lecture was named by colleagues and friends who were taught, mentored or collaborated with Dr. Orr to help honor his legacy in the field of clinical ethics and end-of-life care. He has been an active CMDA member for nearly 50 years and currently serves on the Board of Trustees.
12 STEPS TO CHRISTIAN DECISION MAKING Finding God’s Direction for Life’s Decisions with Al Weir, MD CMDA President
CMDA NATIONAL WINTER CONFERENCE February 23-25, 2018 Bristol, Tennessee www.cmda.org/events
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 5
TRANSFORMATIONS
JOIN US FOR THE ICMDA XVI WORLD CONGRESS CMDA is a founding member of the International Christian Medical and Dental Associations (ICMDA). Birthed at an international conference in Amsterdam in 1963, ICMDA now consists of approximately 80 member-nations. ICMDA holds a World Congress every four years, and the next of these quadrennial world gatherings will be in Hyderabad, India on August 2126, 2018. We invite you to be part of the U.S. contingent at the Hyderabad World Congress. You will join leaders from CMDA, including CMDA’s CEO Dr. David Stevens who is one of the featured speakers. Located in Central India, Hyderabad is a blend of old and new worlds. It has become a technology center, boasting a modern convention center and fine accommodations. The city is easily reached by international flights. The conference is broken into three parts: August 21-23: A special program for students and residents August 22-23: A variety of pre-conference topical tracks August 23-26: Main conference You can register for any or all parts of the program. Discounts are offered for those who attend the entire program. To register, visit www.icmda2018.org.
EVENTS For more information, visit www.cmda.org/events.
Northeast Winter Conference January 12-14, 2018 • North East, Maryland Marriage Enrichment Weekend (for female physicians and their spouses) January 19-21, 2018 • Palm Coast, Florida West Coast Winter Conference January 26-28, 2018 • Cannon Beach, Oregon CMDA National Winter Conference February 23-25, 2018 • Bristol, Tennessee Marriage Enrichment Weekend February 23-25, 2018 • Albuquerque, New Mexico New Medical Missionary Training March 15-18, 2018 • Abingdon, Virginia Remedy Medical Missions Conference March 23-24, 2018 • Orlando, Florida Connections Conference April 24-27, 2018 • Ridgecrest, North Carolina CMDA National Convention April 26-29, 2018 • Ridgecrest, North Carolina Voice of Christian Doctor’s Media Training May 18-19, 2018 • Bristol, Tennessee
MEMORIAM & GIFTS Gifts received July through September 2017
Connie Young in honor of Dr. Kyle Greer Elizabeth K.W Bockman in honor of Adam Baier, PA Highland Presbyterian Church in honor of Dr. Gerald W. Rothacker, Jr. Nancy Annis in honor of Dr. William J. Lawton’s Birthday W. Gaye Moody in memory of Wanda J. Cowper Dale & Diana Johnson in memory of Bob Connelly Philip & Betty Burke in memory of Bob Connelly Richard & Carol Benstead in memory of Bob Connelly Beverly A. Petefish in memory of Robert Connelly Mr. and Mrs. Rolando Gomez in memory of Dr. Sik Choo Ms. Carol Gunn in memory of Dr. Sik Choo Mr. and Mrs. Larry Plunk in memory of Dr. Sik Choo Emmanuel Chang in memory of Dr. Sik Choo Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Anderson in memory of Dan Freeman Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Anderson in memory of Ms. Beverly Stevens For more information about honorarium and memoriam gifts, please contact stewardship@cmda.org.
6 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
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TRANSFORMED TRANSFORMED Doctors
Featuring DR. BILL & PATSY LAWTON
I
t was a pretty easy decision, they said, even though he had recently retired and was supposed to be slowing down, spending more time with family, doing all the fun activities a career in healthcare hadn’t permitted in the last 40 years. But for Dr. Bill and Patsy Lawton, answering God’s call to take on the challenge of fighting the legalization of physicianassisted suicide was as simple as answering the phone. “It was a direct call from the Lord, this time via Dr. David Stevens,” said Dr. Lawton. “He contacted me looking for a state representative, and the Lord told me to tell him ‘yes.’ Having dealt with end-of-life issues for 50 years, I’ve walked that road with countless patients and families making decisions at the end of life. It’s so against our Lord’s will to commit suicide, let alone have physicians participate in it. My experience gave me a real heart for it, and I answered the call from the Lord.” It wasn’t the first time they had answered the Lord’s call, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Dr. Bill Lawton’s career in healthcare started with his training at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. Patsy was also in training at Northwestern to be a physical therapist. They met during his sophomore year and were married in his senior year. They were both raised in Christian homes, and their chosen careers in healthcare were a direct result of God’s call on their lives. During their training, Bill and Patsy became involved with the local CMDA chapter at Northwestern, because they wanted to walk with the Lord in every way possible. After graduating with his medical degree in 1966, Bill finished an internal medicine residency, spent two years 8 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
serving in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and then completed a fellowship in nephrology and hypertension at the University of Iowa in 1974. They only intended to stay in Iowa for two years initially, “but suddenly it was 40 years later and the Lord had kept me on the faculty at the University of Iowa,” he said. And what a blessing that ended up being, because it molded Bill’s love for teaching, medicine and ministry all into one lifelong career with Christ at the center. “I had a real interest in medicine. I loved to teach, and then I just loved ministry and sharing the Lord. The Lord actually called me into all three areas, and it’s been such an incredible blessing. I was a physician who took care of patients, was able to do some research and also did the teaching. And then medicine became ministry. I really felt that I wanted to see patients as Jesus would see them, and to be the ears, the eyes, the mind and the heart of the Lord,” Bill said. Through the years, Bill and Patsy had the opportunity to be involved intermittently with the CMDA student groups at the University of Iowa and, more recently, at UMass Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. Bill and Patsy decided to take that commitment to medicine and ministry one step further by becoming involved in healthcare missions. Since 1998, Patsy had been coordinating efforts to collect discarded wheelchairs, so their first
TRANSFORMING TRANSFORMING
the World
mission trip was with Joni and Friends on a Wheels for the World trip to Ghana. In 2006, CMDA’s Medical Education International (MEI) needed a nephrologist to join a trip to Moldova. Bill and Patsy followed God’s call to participate in that trip together, and since then they have gone on at least one trip with MEI every year. They also serve on MEI’s Advisory Council and have helped to grow the ministry in recent years. In addition, Bill has served as the chair of MEI’s Advisory Council since 2013. MEI is a perfect fit for Bill in his role as a professor and clinician. But for Patsy, her role was a little less defined because many of the countries they visit don’t have physical therapy available. “I always just trusted the Lord and He had such wonderful opportunities for me,” Patsy said. “I would get to go into people’s homes with visiting nurses or out into the community where people really live.” Bill and Patsy can share story after story of their encounters with patients, fellow healthcare professionals and others they’ve met throughout their mission trips. People like Dimitri and Tatiana, a young couple in Moldova they helped to mentor in their walks with the Lord. Or the Muslim mother in Egypt who grabbed Patsy in a fierce hug after they provided wheelchairs for disabled children. Or the patients in Cameroon whose lives were saved as a result of the peritoneal dialysis program the Lord called Bill to help start.
the Massachusetts State House, where Bill recently testified before the Joint Committee on Public Health against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. He’s testified in the past, speaking from his experience as a physician. But this time, he testified as a patient. In the spring of 2017, Bill was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer. He’s now on the opposite side of the exam room, yet he’s still opposed to physician-assisted suicide. He made a powerful statement before the committee, standing up with his fellow physicians to speak out against this issue despite his own personal pain, fatigue and weakness. Bill and Patsy credit the peace of God, the peace that passes all understanding, as to what has carried them through this journey since Bill’s diagnosis. Soon after he
“It’s so important to be willing to go,” Bill said. “Think of the story of Jesus walking on the water and calling Peter. He did well for a short distance, but then he took his eyes off Jesus and sank. And then Jesus rescued him. Our pastor said there’s an additional message: ‘Get out of the boat.’ When we feel and hear those nudges and calls, we have to step out in faith.” After retiring from the University of Iowa, Bill and Patsy’s next steps involved moving to Massachusetts to be closer to family. And now, their latest steps in faith have taken them to the steps of
Dr. Bill Lawton (center) testifies before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in September 2017. Photo courtesy of Evan Lips, New Boston Post.
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 9
Dr. Bill Lawton (right) joined a panel of physicians including Dr. Mark Rollo (left) and Dr. William Toffler (center) in speaking against physician-assisted suicide in Massachusetts. Photo courtesy of Evan Lips, New Boston Post.
was diagnosed, God spoke to him, “God said, ‘Bill, I want you to consider testifying, and I’ll be with you.’ So the Lord called me, and I’ve just felt His hand all along.” During his testimony, Bill talked through the arguments of taking pills to end a life. “So much of these arguments are out of date and not what I’ve been experiencing with options for pain control. My symptoms are better, my markers are better, my weight has stabilized—all through a very skilled, compassionate oncologist. Physician-assisted suicide isn’t necessary. The fears expressed can be addressed and handled well. Not to say that I have no discomfort and that others near the end of life won’t have discomfort. But the state legislature should be supporting better and expanded end-of-life care,” he said. Massachusetts won’t make a decision on physician-assisted suicide until 2018, but Bill’s testimony and faithfulness in following God’s call is already making a difference. That’s nothing new for them, though; they’ve been making a difference their entire lives. Just like they did when they mentored medical students in Iowa, just like they did when they taught medical skills and treated patients on healthcare mission trips, just like they did when they used their 10 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
practices to introduce their patients to Jesus, just like they did when they raised their two children to follow Jesus and serve others—they continue to impact the world for Jesus in every part of their lives. “Esther 4:14 says, ‘And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?’ Bill’s experience with cancer and coming as both a patient and a physician to provide his testimony has carried a different kind of power thanks to God,” Patsy said. “We were all created to do His good works. As we seek to make a difference for God’s kingdom, I just love that if we listen and stay tuned to God, He will lead us into those opportunities that we didn’t think possible.” And they’re not finished yet, because God is still calling them to stand up for His truth and His love. As they reflected on their experiences with CMDA and their time serving Christ through healthcare, both Bill and Patsy agreed on one specific thing: “We can think of a number of times when we were asked directly about our faith when we were not as bold as we should have been. We wish we had been bolder to share. But how great is our God, that He still calls us?”
6
out of
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of our colleagues are dissatisfied in healthcare
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DEVELOPMENT
GENUINE CHANGE THROUGH PARTNERSHIP by Mark Crouch, MD
12 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
A
few years ago at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea, our HIV clinic conducted a quality-improvement project under the supervision of an international non-government organization. We set out to measure different metrics of our facility’s performance in caring for our patients living with HIV. As a staff physician heavily invested in our primary health services, I spent several late afternoons combing through our paper charts ticking various boxes in the data entry forms. Once compiled, an excel spreadsheet and graphs showed where we needed to make adjustments. I sat down with the staff and walked through how we could improve our care. As we implemented things like regular weight checks with newly purchased scales and changing our encounter forms, I felt proud to see our metrics improving. However, after a few short months, I noticed some of the old habits and patterns had returned. Only after more serious reflection did I realize that, although well intentioned, I had personally spearheaded each of the changes our facility made, and the staff may have felt little ownership of the new direction we took. Unsurprisingly, many of the project’s (my) successes began sliding away. What could I have done differently to effect a lasting change that would ultimately help our patients? Many Christian healthcare professionals engage in outreach efforts to those lacking healthcare, both domestically and abroad. Whether in a local U.S. community or an international setting, healthcare workers often take it upon themselves to care for those neglected by society. The unique and specific help we can provide to the underserved makes a compelling argument for more Christians working in healthcare reaching beyond their own practices into volunteerism and healthcare ministry.
tackling issues like poverty and education in addition to health needs. How Christians approach the development of a community in a healthy way relies on their understanding of what poverty truly is, what authentic development looks like and how to go about it in a way that honors God’s heart for the poor and needy. Pivotally we need to ask, “How do we grasp the hands of the poor and hurting without crippling their ability to develop their own right relationship with the Lord?” Without addressing this question, well-meaning efforts to relieve suffering among the sick may result in an unhealthy cycle of charity that damages both the poor and those working to serve them.
THE PROBLEM OF POVERTY
Efforts to help the sick or poor may result in more harm than good, if these efforts are not approached in a way that respects the sacred position these individuals occupy in God’s redemptive plan for our world. One of the barriers to working effectively with the poor rests in having an inaccurate, or at least incomplete, understanding of poverty. Outward manifestations frequently associated with “poverty” might include dilapidated housing, no savings or lack of a vehicle. In fact, lack of material possessions may represent the most common understanding of being poor. As healthcare workers, we also understand that a person’s poor physical health will have a profound impact on their life—employability, fulfillment, quality of life and ability to relate with friends and family. While these
However, the role of the Christian, and in particular the Christian healthcare professional, can be problematic. Charitable clinical services can easily become “handouts” or “Band-Aids” when, for most communities, the true need lies in authentic development. A balance must be struck between providing tangible help—for example, a physician volunteering to see patients for free once a month in a temporary clinic—and true development, such as a mobilized team within the neighborhood Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 13
GET INVOLVED
CMDA’s Center for Medical Missions offers a wide variety of resources to encourage and equip both domestic and international healthcare missionaries in their work. For more information, visit www.cmda.org/cmm.
circumstances certainly create hardships, the true root of poverty goes much deeper than possessions and physical health. Poverty can be more fully understood as a fracturing of relationships. The poor suffer broken relationships with God, others and themselves. This definition of poverty, with varying degrees of application, captures those with and without earthly goods. For example, broken relationships could include feeling powerless in a political system, disconnected in a social system, inert in an economic system or, tragically, robbed of purpose in a spiritual system. Because of these issues, some of us also lack possessions; yet it is important to recognize that materially non-poor individuals can experience just as many broken relationships as the materially poor. The affluent workaholic physician may have poorer relationships than a patient living on food stamps. But the materially poor often feel the most trapped or powerless in their situation. A Christian healthcare worker serving among an impoverished and unwell community can make an incredible impact. Removing physical ailments of someone robbed of purpose may ignite the flame leading to their continued renewal. This impact cannot be overstated, and as Christians in healthcare, we ought to follow Christ’s example in providing genuine, tangible benefits to others through our profession. However, the ability to make a profound difference in the lives of the poor can result in an inflated sense 14 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
of purpose among the health worker. If I allow it, my service to others through healthcare could result in me assuming a role in their lives that ought to be only God’s to fill. This “god-complex” not only breaks my own proper relationship with God, but it can also be harmful to my patient’s ability to connect with Him as the true Healer. So to avoid creating an unhealthy and further disempowered identity in my sick, materially-poor patient, and to refrain from taking God’s place in their restoration, I must find a way to help their situation beyond a charitable handout.
TANGIBLE HELP, AUTHENTIC DEVELOPMENT
In our rural area of Papua New Guinea, a team of individuals recently came from the U.S. to assist with construction of a block of toilets in the local community. While talking to a national friend of mine, he asked, “Do they think we don’t know how to build things here?” He went on to suggest that men from his tribe could have built this and would have gladly taken the extra work. I have struggled with his observations. While the utility of short-term missions is beyond the scope of this article, my friend’s comments illustrate one of the unfortunate patterns slowly dominating how the materially non-poor approach service to the poor. Many of the efforts currently taking place to assist the poor both in the U.S. and abroad do not create sustained development of individuals or communities. Often, these
include providing services such as health clinics, food distribution or construction of housing. These types of projects might be better called relief efforts, rather than true development. While these things can be a catalyst in the lives of individuals, they can also create unhealthy dependencies. If these outreaches foster attitudes of helplessness, they can actually hurt the development of the people or communities they attempt to help. A proper approach to development needs to include, but move beyond, providing material assistance. While donors may appreciate measurable output like patients seen in a clinic or construction of a building, true development lies in creating a sustained change in a community. This change only happens when the intangible outcomes are given as much importance as the material. Specifically, service among the poor must include the spiritual and personal development of both those receiving and providing assistance. These aspects ought to be included alongside material support.
PARTNERSHIP The terms often used to describe efforts among the poor include “service,” “giving” and “helping.” However, such terms involve an intrinsic direction of assistance. As we have seen, the root causes of poverty revolve around dysfunctional relationships. Thus, the materially non-poor can be in as much need of “help” or “service” as those they work with. For those who choose to use healthcare as a ministry for the materially poor, adopting a partnership approach may create a healthier relationship. Commonly, the first step in determining how to help those in poverty involves conducting a “needs assessment”—enumerating the challenges facing a community and identifying how to best remedy them, which occurred in my HIV project. While on the surface this approach seems to get the
Because the root causes of many forms of poverty lie in broken relationships, including a broken relationship with God, spiritual restoration needs to be integrated into any form of development. Some of the most crippling attitudes and behaviors spring out of an improper worldview based on erroneous spiritual beliefs. If one believes their poverty is destined by higher powers or a fate beyond their control, they will make little or no effort to escape it. For those who endeavor to bring relief of suffering, spiritual wholeness is a must—including a right relationship with God, others and, where possible, a local church. Development also needs to include investing in individuals who will, usually, outlast any outside actors in the community. A pastor or other leader who takes initiative to improve themselves and their neighbors will have a deeper and more sustained impact than an outsider. When working among the materially poor, those wishing to serve them ought to mobilize that community’s preexisting change agents and provide training and encouragement for their endeavors. This requires adopting a mindset that appreciates the strengths already present in the community, as well as approaching them in a humble and teachable way. Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 15
job done, it can further damage the relationships of those it aims to help. Emphasizing the needs and negatives in a community can further impoverish them, pointing out that they have many problems and need outsiders to give solutions. Sometimes, a community’s worldview or beliefs might involve a fatalistic approach to their own suffering. In this case they may be incapable of identifying needs, seeing them as a just end for perceived wrongs or fate. Focusing on needs may reinforce this false worldview. An alternative to the need-based approach is directing efforts toward strengths. Rather than asking the materially poor what they lack, we could ask what they do well. What skills and resources already exist? Who might already want to improve the health of this community? How can these things be encouraged and leveraged to combat the issues facing us? Identifying the intrinsic assets of a community, especially individuals who can bring about change, should occur alongside, if not before, identification of needs. Working with the poor also demands a reoriented time frame. This is one of the most difficult aspects where I work in Papua New Guinea. International non-government organizations with substantial funding and managerial support prefer to work on projects such as housing, teaching or relief efforts. However, a long-term investment represents the best way to see true development in an impoverished community. Numerous efforts at our hospital have involved aid agencies providing financial and logistical support for a few years. Once this initial investment ends, any gains made may revert to previous form. Often times this happens because “outsiders” do not appreciate the cultural differences of the community. This occurs both for those reaching across town or around the world. The understanding of time, relationships, spirituality, justice and other critical life-framing ideas would be radically different between an affluent metropolitan suburb and those living in material poverty of the inner city. Christ invested 30 years in the culture around Him before beginning His public ministry. 16 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
Why would He do this? He created the world and the people He came to reach, but He saw value in a long-term strategy that involved being an established part of His community before trying to effect change. Those who wish to partner with the poor must adopt an investment mentality rather than a project-oriented one. Critical to being a partner with the poor is having the approach and attitude of a learner when joining them. This has been the best, and most difficult, lesson for me to learn. Those we wish to help probably have more to teach us than we offer to them. When a second improvement project came to our hospital, revolving around the tuberculosis program, I adjusted my approach. I wanted to know how Papua New Guineans felt we could do better. Our staff generated a variety of ideas and I listened with an occasional observation or suggestion. Our clinic already performed very well in screening tuberculosis patients for co-infection with HIV, but the staff felt this was an important area to improve. I struggled to understand this, since we already exceeded the targets set by the national department of health. However, they requested a partition be placed in the clinic to give patients more privacy to be tested and receive their results. Apparently, they knew our patients better than I did, because our screening
and my materials, wouldn’t have imagined possible. In an hour, my fence was completed.
rate increased from 76 percent to 99 percent with this single, inexpensive change. What I didn’t foresee was it also created a new space in the clinic to organize our medications for more efficient dispensing. This allowed staff time to provide patient education, conduct follow-up visits, keep track of those who “defaulted” on their medicines and store more valuable equipment. My Papua New Guinea brothers and sisters have taken ownership of this new space and use it to give Christ-like care to our patients. Had I, again, spearheaded the efforts of this project, I would have missed the extremely valuable input and ideas of the staff members who understand our patients and culture much better than I ever will.
EARS TO HEAR
On a sunny weekend day, I stood looking at what I thought would be a failed construction project. I needed to build a fence separating my yard, where our children play, from the road nearby that carries heavy maintenance vehicles. Some power tools lay scattered about, as I was sure I would need them. I had cut bamboo fence posts and hammered them into the ground, but I couldn’t find bamboo of the proper size to serve as the crossbeams. I contemplated carrying all of my bamboo to the hospital’s workshop and attempt the dangerous task of cutting the curved wood on the table saw. A local villager, who worked security for us, came by and asked what I was doing. After listening to me bemoaning my plight he said, “Dr. Mark, you have plenty of bamboo that will work just fine. Where is your bush-knife?” He proceeded to perfectly split my bamboo into crossbeams using just a machete in a fashion I, unfamiliar with my setting
As Christian healthcare workers, we often possess good clinical skills and high credentials. Because of God’s work in our lives, we often feel compelled to serve the poor. The tendency may exist to use our own methods and the high-vantage of superior knowledge to bring about changes that do not suit, or even hinder, the physical and spiritual development of those around us. But to guide others into a proper relationship with God while ministering to them physically, we should adopt the approach of Jesus. He lived and learned among us before beginning His public ministry and, when He did, approached the suffering people of His day in a humble spirit, partnering with them toward a heavenly destination. For the Christian healthcare professional working among the materially poor, we should consider our partnership with them a gift, learning from them and embracing their strengths while we jointly pursue a more Godly life— for us and for them. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the staff of Nazarene Health Ministries - Primary Health Services for allowing me to learn from and partner with them the last few years. Thank you to Johanna McLendon for inspiring my thoughts on this topic. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert Walking with the Poor by Bryant L. Myers Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton
MARK CROUCH, MD, and his family currently serve at Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea where he focuses on primary health services, including tuberculosis, HIV, antenatal, maternal and child care. After receiving his medical doctorate from the University of Oklahoma, he completed his family medicine residency at In His Image in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 17
REMEDY
HEALING FOR THE NATIONS by David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics)
LEARN MORE
For more information about Remedy, including the venue, breakout sessions, registration costs and more, visit www.cmda.org/remedy.
I
believe healthcare missions is the key to completing the Great Commission. We will accomplish the Great Commission when every people group hears the gospel. The Bible promises when that happens, Christ will return! Wow! But why is healthcare missions the key?
Unreached people groups are overwhelmingly located in difficult-to-access countries that are hostile to Christianity. Mission organizations have tried to penetrate these countries by using non-traditional methods and sending missionaries to do business, teach English or start development projects. More often than not, however, these faithful relational evangelists are found out and then quickly thrown out. 18 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR    Winter 2017
Just a few months ago I heard this familiar story again. In a predominately Muslim country, a young couple ministered compassionately to their neighbors while doing secular work. They were beginning to see fruit as people put their faith in Christ and a small house church was formed. As their converts began witnessing to others of what God had done in their lives, some of the people who heard their testimonies told the local mullah what had happened. His complaint to the Muslim government resulted in a quick deportation order for the young couple. In the same country, a pioneer medical team was working with the same mission. They had boldly written on their work permit applications that they were medical missionaries. Because of the care they provided to the desperately needy, they were welcomed with open arms, not thrown out.
So if healthcare missions is one of the most effective strategies to finishing the Great Commission, then we need to multiply its effect by increasing the number of healthcare missionaries. We must challenge Christian healthcare professionals to go, and we also must ensure they are well prepared to effectively serve in difficult areas. They need to know how to share the gospel. They need to know how to plant house churches in the context of where they serve. Simply practicing healthcare is not enough. No matter how many lives you save during your lifetime, sooner or later, all of your patients will die. It is inevitable. Only as we introduce patients to Jesus Christ and they accept Him as their Savior can they have eternal life. I’ve been the Chief Executive Officer of Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) for more than 23 years, but I’m still a healthcare missionary at heart. That is why I’ve put lots of my time and effort into expanding CMDA’s efforts to catalyze medical missions and make it more effective. But getting missionaries to the field doesn’t just start and stop with hosting a conference once a year. As a ministry, CMDA started the Center for Medical Missions to network, resource and sustain healthcare missionaries on the field, as well as prepare those ready to go. More than 800 of CMDA’s members are career medical missionaries who need our prayers, advice, encouragement and knowledge about resources to help them. This begins, however, long before they arrive on the field. It starts during healthcare training, so the Your Call program mentors those called to missions during
their long years of training. I started it because of the struggle I personally had toward the end of my family practice residency in following my own mission call. If I hadn’t thrown fuel on the fire of my call through shortterm trips, reading missionary books and developing a mentoring relationship with a career missionary, I probably would have never gone to Africa. In medical school, and especially residency, you are professionalized. You learn how to make decisions, keep your cool in life and death crises and lead the healthcare team. In my last year, I almost put my hands back on the steering wheel of my life, thinking I didn’t want to lose my independence and financial control while some missionary organization told me what I could and couldn’t do. CMDA also trains new healthcare missionaries—more than 400 of them in the last 10 years. Mission sending agencies give their new appointees language acquisition and cultural training, but they can’t prepare their healthcare missionaries for the challenges of practicing overseas such as too many patients and too few healthcare professionals, as well as understanding a different culture’s worldview of health, burnout, conflict resolution, development, project fundraising, management, administration and so much more. The Summit, a conference held each fall for sending agency executives, was started after I realized that expecting these executives to manage their healthcare outreaches was like asking me as a physician to manage a commercial bank. I know nothing about banking, and most mission executives know almost nothing about healthcare missions. We bring more than 100 executives together each year in Charlotte, North Carolina for education, networking, sharing best practices and envisioning the future. CMDA’s Continuing Medical & Dental Education Commission hosted its first conference in 1979 to help missionaries stay up to date medically. It has grown remarkably over the last 38 years, and now has more than 100 volunteer faculty members and a great spiritual renewal thrust for missionaries and their families at its annual conference. Up to 750 missionary families gather for 10 days of education and renewal in Greece or Thailand each year. God has increasingly put CMDA at the hub of healthcare missions, but there is still much more to be done. My top priority is to challenge more healthcare professionals to prayerfully consider healthcare missions for their career. The greatest need in healthcare missions is not more money, hospitals, clinics, equipment or supplies. Instead, it is more healthcare missionaries who are better trained and sustained. Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 19
The Global Missions Health Conference (GMHC) came to life many years ago when the mission leaders of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky joined me on a Global Health Outreach (GHO) trip to teach them how to lead their own short-term medical teams. The concept of the conference was conceived as we sat around a table at a government guesthouse after taking care of men all day in a deplorable Zambian prison. On our return to the U.S., we had a follow-up meeting at CMDA’s headquarters and the GMHC was officially born the next fall to meet the great need to catalyze more involvement in healthcare missions.
Since then, the 282 campuses where we have outreaches have been the rich spawning beds for new missionaries. More than 3,000 attend the GMHC each November, and almost half of those are students. Last year, more than 900 people came forward to make commitments. Recently, Dick Furman, the co-founder of World Medical Missions, told me that every single one of their post residents sent out for two years to get their feet wet in medical missions were influenced to do so by CMDA and the GMHC. The data shows that as powerful an influence the GMHC has on accomplishing the Great Commission, almost all the attendees come from within a six-hour drive of Louisville, Kentucky. As impressive as it is to see the buses, vans and cars roll in to visit the 200 exhibitors or attend a number of the 120 workshops, less than a fourth of the country is impacted by this conference. But I have the REMEDY for that! REMEDY—a new medical missions conference from CMDA. Most people call the GMHC the “Louisville Conference” because they can’t remember its long name. REMEDY is easier to remember, and it’s a more inspirational description. Medical missionaries bring the REMEDY for both physical and spiritual sickness. They are a channel to bring healing to the nations.
20 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
Though it has a different name, REMEDY is a clone of the GMHC in Louisville. Will Rogers, who plans and runs the GMHC, has been very involved in planning this new event. The conference runs March 23-24, 2018 at First Baptist Orlando in Orlando, Florida with the same quality of workshops, plenaries and exhibitors. Missionaries will attend from all over the world and mission organizations will be represented. The conference is for the curious, the interested, those committed to go and people already serving in healthcare missions. It’s for students, residents, fellows, graduates and more. Plus, it’s a great time of the year to plan a Spring Break activity either before or after the conference, so grab some friends and come join us. If you’re a graduate healthcare professional, bring a colleague, student or resident with you. You can even rent a van and bring your local CMDA chapter with you. We are working on offering free housing for students and missionaries, so stay tuned for more details. You will be inspired, challenged and equipped at REMEDY. You will meet people of like mind who seek to complete the Great Commission. You will make new friends and deepen your spiritual walk, whether you end up serving
in this country or overseas. Every Christian can be a missionary wherever God calls them! I want to see the world reached for Christ, don’t you? I want to use the skills God has given me in healthcare to help the needy just like Jesus did. And, like He did, I believe it will give me an opportunity to introduce patients to the only One who can give them eternal life. I’ll be there! Hope to see you there as well!
DAVID STEVENS, MD, MA (ETHICS), serves as the Chief Executive Officer for CMDA. From 1981 to 1991, he served as a missionary doctor in Kenya helping to transform Tenwek Hospital into one of the premier mission healthcare facilities in the world. Subsequently, he served as the Director of World Medical Mission, the medical arm of Samaritan’s Purse. As a leading spokesman for Christian healthcare professionals, Dr. Stevens has conducted hundreds of television, radio and print media interviews. He holds degrees from Asbury University, is an AOA graduate of University of Louisville School of Medicine and is board certified in family practice.
PLENARY SPEAKERS Michael D. Johnson, MD, FACS Healing for the Nations: My Shared Burden
Rebekah Naylor, MD, FACS Healing for the Nations: My Passion
Val Tramonte, MD Healing for the Nations: My Message
MARCH 23-24, 2018 ORLANDO, FLORIDA www.cmda.org/remedy Early Bird Registration ends December 31, 2017 Paid Advertisement
David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics) Healing for the Nations: My Obedience
PROVIDING HEALING
AFTER THE HURRICANE by Cindy Anthis, MD
22 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
I
t’s a situation we never expected to find ourselves in, to say the least. I was trapped in my house in Katy, Texas by the flooded streets and rising waters from Hurricane Harvey. Meanwhile, our executive director was rescuing our office administrator from her flooded first floor apartment in a kayak. Our office administrator, her husband and their 2-year-old son had to wade to the kayak in chest deep water, knowing they had lost most of their possessions. At the same time, we were all communicating with each other about how to respond. We knew we needed to respond. And we knew we were going to respond. But we just didn’t know how we were going to respond. After all, we never expected to find ourselves in this situation. I am the volunteer medical director at Christ Clinic, a charity clinic located in Katy. We are a small clinic that was started by a local church to serve the uninsured poor in our community (whose income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline). Our funding comes primarily from individual donations and local churches. In addition, we receive some grant funding and our patients pay $15 per visit. Every year we remain faithful, and every year God provides. In 2016, we had nearly 10,000 patient visits as we cared for more than 3,500 patients as their medical home. Our small yet dedicated staff, along with a committed group of volunteer physicians, pharmacists, nurses, translators and other do-gooders, are stretched extremely thin during our regular operation. That’s why no one would
have expected us to be so involved with providing medical care needed in response to Hurricane Harvey. In fact, if a planning meeting had been held to explore how our community would respond to such an emergency, we most likely would not have even been invited. Like I said, it’s not a situation we ever expected to find ourselves in. However, God has given those of us serving at Christ Clinic a deep, passionate desire to serve the vulnerable in our community. When Hurricane Harvey brought more than 50 inches of rain, flooding thousands of houses, suddenly everyone in our community became vulnerable. We knew our community needed us, and we were ready for “such a time as this.” As soon as the water around the clinic receded enough to allow us to reach the building, those of us who could get there met to begin planning. And it wasn’t long before we leapt into action. During the initial days, the water in the area made driving anywhere dangerous at best and impossible for many. Two of our area high schools were turned into shelters to house the residents rescued from the rising waters surrounding their homes. My daughter’s school opened as a shelter less than one mile from our house. At the clinic, we packed boxes of medications from our well-stocked pharmacy and showed up at the shelter ready to work. We worked alongside our dedicated school nurses caring for the medical needs of the “guests” (as we were instructed to call them). At one point, close to 1,000 guests were in the building, along with their pets and whatever else they had managed to gather in their haste to escape the floodwaters. Many of the evacuees did not think to bring their medicines when they left their homes. We focused on replacing prescription medications and making sure everyone had their chronic medical needs met. Most doctors’ offices were underwater and almost every pharmacy in our area was closed, so we were
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 23
day. They could not safely leave, so they stayed as the water continued to rise. They were finally rescued by boat by the National Guard four days later. She described their terror as they ran out of diapers and formula while they sat helplessly as water began rising into their mobile home. This is a trauma that will continue to affect her emotionally for years to come. She is certainly not the only one, as we have all been impacted and affected one way or another. I heard countless stories and learned numerous lessons in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. I want to summarize just a few for you:
providing a vital service. One man with diabetes arrived at the shelter with his insulin pump but no insulin or other supplies to use the pump. A call to the supply company revealed it would be more than a week before the supplies lost in the flood could be replaced. We were able to transition him to injectable insulin and instruct the good Samaritans taking him into their undamaged home how to help him manage it. There are so many stories like this. Much of what I did was check blood pressure and blood sugar and listen to people as they recounted the terrifying events of the previous days. Countless tears were shed. As the initial rescue efforts transitioned to recovery, our care shifted back to the clinic. We made a decision in faith to offer free care to all who came, regardless of income eligibility. We reached out to Direct Relief to expand our supply of medication in the pharmacy. We received tetanus vaccine and asthma inhalers from the county hospital district. Our staff worked tirelessly for several days. I told everyone in the clinic to start each encounter by asking how the patient was impacted by the storm. We continued to see patients free of charge, fill almost all prescriptions onsite for free and, most importantly, pray with all those who would allow it. It comes as no surprise that the most vulnerable in our community were disproportionately impacted by the storm. Those living with no margin and no support suffer the most in the face of natural disasters. One story that stands out in my memory is one of my long-time patients. She lost her chronic medication during the storm and traveled to the clinic for refills. I started by asking her about her experience, and she burst into tears, a steady stream of sobs that lasted nearly five minutes. She was staying with her daughter in a mobile home helping her daughter care for her 2-month-old twins when the storm started. They lost power on the first 24 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR    Winter 2017
1. The church is God’s agent of healing in the world. A church in our community started Christ Clinic, and today our area churches continue to be the main source of support. As we planned our response, we coordinated with the local churches and were led and supported by them. We were involved with community-wide planning, and we led the medical aspect of the response. It was beautiful to see our community churches come together and be the BODY of Christ, each operating in their individual areas of strength. In this way, so many people impacted by the hurricane in our community felt the love of Christ during this terrible time. 2. God uses the small things offered freely. I am reminded of the boy offering his loaves and fishes to Jesus when there was an enormous need to feed the multitudes. The boy could not see how it was going to turn out, but he freely offered what he had. Christ Clinic is not a big, wellknown or powerful organization. In the face of an overwhelming need, we opened our hands (and our clinic and pharmacy) and freely gave what we had. God took that offering and multiplied it beyond what we could have imagined. Several national organizations partnered with us in the weeks following the storm. They sent medical personnel, mental health personnel, logistics specialists and equipment. We continue to see patients in numbers two to three times what we were seeing before the storm. God took our initial small faith offering and multiplied it in ways we could not have orchestrated on our own. 3. We are blessed to be a blessing. God spared our clinic from flooding. We do not know why some people suffered complete losses of their homes, cars and property while others escaped the damage. Even when we cannot understand why, we are called to use our blessings to help those around us who are suffering. This has always been how Christ Clinic sees our mission, and we were called to put it into practice during and after Hurricane Harvey. 4. Healthcare is a way to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the midst of tragedy. This reality comes as no surprise. We were privileged at Christ Clinic to enter into
the suffering of the people in our community during Hurricane Harvey. Christ Himself is the example we follow. He walked with those who were suffering and He cared for them. This is and will continue to be our goal at Christ Clinic, and I challenge each of you to make it your goal as well. As the water receded, our community began the long, ongoing process of rebuilding. More than 15,000 of Katy Independent School District’s 70,000 students had their homes flooded. This represents thousands of families in our community, families that will spend the next six months to a year trying to rebuild. Others simply will not be able to rebuild. I have been part of disaster relief in the past. I served short-term in Haiti after the earthquake and in the Philippines after Super Typhoon Haiyan, but somehow this has been so much more difficult. When tragedy strikes your own neighbors and your own community, there is no option to be involved in relief for the short-term. Christ Clinic will continue to have an expanded role in meeting the needs of the medically vulnerable in the months and years to come. We have already begun to seek resources to add more mental health capacity, because the scars from this event will be visible for a long time. For me personally, I have been focus-
ing on Paul’s command in Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” I am committed to not giving up and to loving those the storm has brought through the doors of Christ Clinic. May this terrible rain bring a huge harvest for Christ’s glory!
CINDY ANTHIS, MD, is a board certified family physician who joined CMDA while a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She met her husband Joel at the first CMDA meeting of their first year of medical school. She and her husband (an ENT) have been involved with healthcare missions throughout their careers. They served a three-year term with SIM in Jos, Nigeria, where Joel trained Nigerian doctors in ENT practice and Cindy did community health and outreach. They continue to be involved in short-term trips. Cindy traveled with CMDA as they partnered with the Salvation Army in the Philippines to do relief work after Super Typhoon Haiyan. Cindy and Joel have been blessed with four children and one daughter-in-law. They live in Katy, Texas where Cindy is the volunteer medical director of Christ Clinic.
in Him we live
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| phone 716.326.2201 Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 25
Camaraderie in Faith
How CMDA’s Psychiatry Section Found Strength in Numbers by Aaron Burch
“
I had a patient who made a big impression on how I viewed the importance of religious faith in a psychiatric practice.
26 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
”
—Brian Briscoe, MD Chair of CMDA’s Psychiatry Section
Members of CMDA’s Psychiatry Section participated in a panel with staff members from Saddleback Church at Building Bridges, a forum designed to explore and support mental health initiatives.
T
his patient—we’ll call him “Howard”—was suffering from a moderately progressed stage of Huntington’s disease and the depression that often accompanies the illness. After failing numerous antidepressant medications, his depression had not improved. He had attempted suicide twice within a six-month period and had been admitted to the psychiatric floor where Dr. Brian Briscoe was rotating at the time as a senior medical student. As Dr. Briscoe approached the patient’s bedside, he noticed Howard had a Bible in his hand and, to break the ice, asked if he often read the book.
Simply talking to Howard about his faith in a meaningful way had made a difference. And through that moment, Dr. Briscoe came to recognize the tremendous importance of faith in caring for persons struggling with mental illness.
“He told me he thought God was punishing him for all he’d done,” Dr. Briscoe said. “Howard believed God had stricken him with Huntington’s as direct punishment for having sold drugs to children in his late teens and 20s. He had limited insight into the fact that he had inherited the disease through no fault of his own.”
FINDING A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY
After they talked, Dr. Briscoe asked the chaplain to come and speak to Howard. The chaplain discussed 1 John 1:9, as well as a number of other theological truths about the nature of God’s grace and forgiveness. And the next day, Howard came out of his room on his own accord for the first time in more than a week.
“I discovered the Psychiatry Section could be a safe, reputable resource for Christian students, residents and practicing psychiatrists to consult with colleagues who shared their faith, as well as to explore the various ways in which psychiatrists have found to live out their faith in and through their profession,” he said.
“He was still depressed, but something was different. His countenance was brighter, and the entire nursing staff noticed,” Dr. Briscoe said. “Howard was still facing a very difficult road of suffering ahead, but something was subtly different about his perspective and overall demeanor.”
The Psych Section, as members affectionately call it, has been helping psychiatrists discuss issues of faith and support their peers for more than 50 years. Its roots extend back to the 1950s when evangelical psychiatrists began meeting and collaborating in American Psychiatric Asso-
“Unfortunately,” stated Dr. Briscoe, “my secular training left me ill equipped to discuss religious and spiritual needs with my patients, and it also left me void of an understanding of how I might live out my Christian faith in my professional life, especially in psychiatry.” As a medical student, Dr. Briscoe joined CMDA and maintained his contact with the group through residency. As a practicing professional, never having forgotten the lesson he learned as a medical student, Dr. Briscoe joined CMDA’s Psychiatry Section and is now serving as its chair.
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 27
Now, some 55 years after they began, the Psych Section’s panels and meetings within the APA conference are the organization’s most vital hub. Each morning of the conference, the group hosts a breakfast gathering for physicians to come in and start their day with prayer and reflection.
GET INVOLVED
For more information about the CMDA Psychiatry Section, visit www.cmda.org/psychiatry or email psychsection@cmda.org.
ciation (APA) panel discussions. The group was formally created in Chicago in 1963 when a group of 21 psychiatrists voted to affiliate with CMDA, known then as the Christian Medical Society. At the APA conference in 1964, the Psych Section members ratified the constitution and presented their first public seminar with the topic, “Positive Approaches to a Christian Understanding of Anger and Hostility.” By 1965, founding psychiatrists anticipated the section would make a public presentation each year that was of relevance to their professional colleagues in conjunction with the APA’s conference. Over the years, numerous prominent psychiatrists have shared their faith and their wisdom through the section. Past chairs include Dr. Armand Nicholi, editor of the Harvard Guide to Modern Psychiatry; Dr. James D. Mallory, author of The Kink and I: A Psychiatrist’s Guide to Untwisted Living; and Dr. Irving Wiesner, who served as chair of the Psych Section and chair of the APA Committee on Psychiatry and Religion along with fellow past chairs, Drs. John Peteet and Alan Josephson. Dr. Wiesner recently spoke about the organization and admitted that finding the Psych Section during a troubling time changed his life for the better. “The first Psych Section meeting I ever went to was in 1983,” he said. “I was in the midst of a divorce. I was battered and bruised and just coming back to the Lord. I was so shaky that when I attended the APA conference, the only thing I attended the whole weekend was that Psych Section meeting, and it was lifesaving. These were people who understood me in more ways than one. Going to those meetings has been a significant source of joy in my life ever since.” 28 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
The Psych Section also hosts one evening banquet during the conference, which is punctuated by a thought-provoking guest speaker. Friends and colleagues find renewed strength each year by sharing difficult cases and stories of overcoming adversity. “There’s even a case meeting we hold at the APA where a member will present a difficult case to the group and other Christians will give feedback on how to handle it. To me, that support and fellowship you don’t get anywhere else is what makes the Psych Section so special,” said Dr. John Yarborough, a past chair with a practice in Northern California. “These are fellow Christians who are practicing in your same field,” he said. “It gives me the knowledge that I have a group of people to call upon to pray with me or to lend an ear to the situation I’m facing. That’s tremendously powerful.”
FINDING STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
“The Psych Section helped me to remember that I am a Christian first who works as a psychiatrist. We all have fellowship with our church members or in other aspects of our lives, but it can be difficult to find that fellowship in the practice of psychiatry. This group is a safety net of sorts.” —John Yarborough, MD The opportunity for mentoring and friendship is part of the bedrock on which the Psych Section sits. Because the populations of medical schools throughout the nation are constantly in flux, finding a supportive group of Christians in psychiatry can be difficult. The section offers a respite from that isolation by making the community available nationally. As young psychiatrists join, they turn to more experienced mentors for help on difficult cases. Once the young doctors develop and grow, they soon find themselves assisting other newcomers. Dr. Yarborough, who practices as a child psychiatrist, regularly mentors a younger section member about to enter her own child psychiatry fellowship. “We try to keep in contact and just pray in support of what’s going on,” Dr. Yarborough said. “It’s helpful for her
because she’s not at a training center where there are multiple Christian attendees.” Another benefit of the section is a wealth of academic opportunities coming from proximity with Christian peers. For example, past chair Dr. John Peteet, who co-edited the Handbook of Spirituality and Worldview in Clinical Practice with fellow past chair Dr. Alan Josephson, found the group to be an excellent place to express his academic curiosity. “The handbook was a project that grew out of some of the presentations we were doing at the APA,” Dr. Peteet said. “Freud used the term ‘worldview’ to distinguish between spirituality and a scientific point of view. So we picked up on his term to refer to spiritual traditions. In the book, we had people who represented many different worldviews authoring individual chapters, so we had a Christian, a Hindi, a Muslim, a Jew, an atheist, etc.” In the text, those authors approach psychiatric care from unique theological perspectives, each asking, “How can you be sensitive to where the patient is coming from, not offend them and obtain information that is helpful to you?” The handbook was published by the APA and praised by psychiatrists for its in-depth look at how religious belief is reflected in practice.
with projects I wouldn’t have been otherwise,” Dr. Thielman said. For example, he was one of the chapter authors in the Handbook of Spirituality and Worldview in Clinical Practice, and he helped Dr. Peteet with another book, Ethical Considerations at the Intersection of Psychiatry and Religion. Dr. Thielman has found the section to be helpful in treating missionaries with mental health issues. “That is an area with some huge needs related to trauma healing, needs which aren’t being met much at all,” he said. One of the physicians who helped him accomplish his goal was Dr. Frauke Schaefer, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. Together, they and other Psych Section doctors networked with psychiatrists all over the world to address the needs of missionaries dealing with burnout, anxiety disorder, PTSD and more. Their work resulted in the website www.docsjoininghands.com, which focuses on developing those networks for both psychiatrists and missionaries. “The Psych Section gave us a voice last year to better address the needs of missionaries, and several psychiatrists expressed interest in either traveling overseas or seeing missionaries within their practice,” Dr. Schaefer said. “They have been so helpful and supportive.”
FINDING A SHARED CALLING
Whether abroad or here in the country, the organization is a sounding board for Christians in psychiatry to express themselves and help members in all their endeavors. Some physicians are spiritually awakened with a single experience, as Dr. Briscoe was when he spoke to that patient in need years ago. For others, the balancing of faith and practice is a lifelong endeavor. Either way, the Psych Section is here to help.
“It’s an awesome responsibility and opportunity to help someone who is going through a physical, emotional or spiritual battle,” he said. “Our doctors can speak to all three issues in a responsible way. They have solutions other medical folks may not, just because they process the physical and emotional issues as believers. They’re just a great bunch of doctors. They have hearts of gold.”
“Using your faith in practice depends on the level of faith and personality in the psychiatrist. Some compartmentalize. Some would never reveal they were Christian,” Dr. Weisner said. “I’ve spent the last 37 years of my life integrating my practice and my faith. It’s been the passion of my life, and the CMDA Psych Section has helped me with that. You can’t put a price on that help. It’s absolutely precious.”
“These doctors touch part of the human person that no other field of healthcare does,” said Marshall Williams, who organizes the annual meeting and communicates news to section members in his role as Psychiatry Section Administrator. He recently took over the role from his wife Sherri. As a couple, they’ve served the section for more than a decade.
While the Psych Section is primarily known as a national organization, hearts of gold aren’t limited by any borders. Dr. Sam Thielman is a longtime member and outgoing chair of the section (as well as the group’s historian) who has spent much of his adult life overseas working for the U.S. Department of State. “For me, the Psych Section has been an opportunity to network with a lot of Christian colleagues and be involved
AARON BURCH graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2011 with a degree in journalism. After spending three years as a reporter for a local newspaper, he became Communications Specialist for the Greater Louisville Medical Society where today he manages the publication of two magazines and a monthly newsletter.
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 29
Q& A with
David Barbe, MD CMDA’s Exclusive Interview with the President of the American Medical Association
T
he American Medical Association’s (AMA) longstanding policy opposing physician-assisted suicide was technically reaffirmed in 2016 at the AMA Annual Meeting, when the AMA accepted the Council on Judicial and Ethical Affairs’ (CEJA) report to modernize the Opinions in the Code of Medical Ethics. However, CEJA stated, “The Council is prepared to address concerns about existing Opinions, some of which have been in the Code for decades, through the resolution process.” As a result, the House of Delegates referred an Oregon resolution which called for the CEJA to “study the issue of medical aidin-dying with consideration of (1) data collected from the states that currently authorize aid-in-dying, and (2) input from some of the physicians who have provided medical aid-in-dying to qualified patients, and report back at the 2017 Annual Meeting with recommendation regarding the AMA taking a neutral stance on physician ‘aid-in-dying.’” (Aid-in-dying is the euphemism for physician-assisted suicide.) Since that time, the CEJA has been meeting and hearing testimony on this topic in preparation for
30 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
submitting its report at the AMA Interim Meeting in November 2017. The results of that meeting were not available at the time of this publication’s printing. At the 2017 AMA Annual Meeting in June, Dr. David Barbe was inaugurated as President of the AMA. Dr. Barbe is a family physician, and CMDA reached out to conduct an interview with him regarding the future of AMA’s stance on physician-assisted suicide.
CMDA: Tell us a little about your background and your professional career. DR. BARBE: I was raised in Mountain Grove, Missouri, a town of 5,000 about an hour east of Springfield, Missouri. I received my undergraduate degree and medical degree from University of Missouri–Columbia and later completed my master’s in health administration there also. I completed my family medicine residency in Wichita, Kansas. After residency, I returned to my hometown and started a traditional solo family medicine practice—
cradle to grave—including full obstetrics, nursing home, hospital and minor procedures. I grew my practice to include two sites and several physicians. After almost 15 years in private practice, I merged my practice with Mercy in Springfield, Missouri, a large integrated health system. I still live and have my clinical practice in Mountain Grove, but I am also Vice President of Regional Operations for Mercy Springfield with responsibility for five hospitals, 75 regional practices and about 200 physicians and advanced practitioners. CMDA: How did you get involved in the AMA and then become its President? DR. BARBE: There are many ways for physicians to get involved and become a leader at the AMA. My path started at the state-level, serving on committees for the Missouri State Medical Association (MSMA). Working on behalf of Missouri physicians, I chaired the MSMA governing board in 2003 and served as MSMA president in 2005. The AMA also offered valuable leadership opportunities, allowing me to get involved in shaping the medical profession’s position on social and economic aspects of medical care. I was a member of the Council on Medical Service, an influential AMA committee, and served as its chair from 2008 to 2009. My term on the council was marked by the development of AMA policy related to coverage of the uninsured, health system reform, Medicare reform and health insurance market reform.
Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine this past spring, I’ve reminded students and my colleagues that simply by virtue of being physicians, we are all leaders. Other members of the healthcare team look to us for leadership. Our practices and hospitals, our patients and our communities—ALL look to physicians for leadership. In this context, leadership is not about position or authority, but more about being a positive presence and having a constructive influence on whatever situation we are in. How we look for solutions, encourage and help others adapt to change, and shape the changes that are needed are what defines us and determines our effectiveness as leaders. I ask every physician audience this question: “As physicians, we ARE leaders…what kind of leaders will we be?” CMDA: How does your faith impact your practice and your role as President of the AMA? DR. BARBE: For me, my practice as a physician and my Christian faith have been very reinforcing of one another. As a Christian, I recognize the dignity and intrinsic worth of every individual. As a physician, this helps me remain sensitive to the needs of my patients—even those who are sometimes difficult—and to keep their needs first. My role as President of the
Following my service on the council, the representatives of the nation’s physicians elected me to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2009. There I was appointed to numerous AMA committees and task forces prior to serving on the board’s executive committee, and eventually serving as board chair from 2013–2014. I was elected President-elect in June 2016 and inaugurated as President in June 2017. CMDA: From your long history as a leader, what are the most important traits successful leaders should have today? DR. BARBE: In several recent speeches, including at my son’s commencement at the
Transformed Doctors ➤ Transforming the World www.cmda.org 31
AMA is a natural extension of that. As the AMA’s spokesperson, I work to shape a healthcare system that is better for both patients and physicians. For instance, in the ongoing national discussion around health system reform, my personal Christian and professional values fit nicely with the policies of the AMA and made it easy for me to advocate for improving coverage, access and affordability, protecting the safety net programs (Medicaid and CHIP) and maintaining patient protections in the market reforms of the ACA (e.g., no exclusion for pre-existing conditions). Editor’s Note: For this next question, our original question was in regard to CEJA’s expected recommendation on the AMA’s position on legalizing physician-assisted suicide. In an effort to continue the dialogue with AMA, we allowed our question to be edited. Our understanding through multiple CMDA and AMA members in the last year has been that CEJA would make a recommendation regarding their position statement on physicianassisted suicide. Two, CMDA does not use euphuisms of aid-indying or end-of-life option for physician-assisted suicide. CMDA: The CEJA’s ongoing study of aid-in-dying is of particular importance to our CMDA members. What advice would you give to our members to contribute to the discussion on this and other issues of importance to them? DR. BARBE: In light of recently proposed or adopted state legislation on aid-in-dying, concerned physicians in the AMA House of Delegates (HOD)—our policy-making
forum—proposed that the AMA study the related issues. The proposal was considered by the over 1,000 delegates and alternate delegates who comprise our HOD and ultimately referred to the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA). Responding to the delegates’ need for additional information, the council is examining the current landscape surrounding the issues. In light of the complex and deeply contested nature of the issues at stake, CEJA believes it is wisest to proceed cautiously and allow ample time for thoughtful reflection in developing its report. CEJA has begun reviewing the extensive literature, along with broad and diverse input from physicians. CEJA continues to consider physician input through email and hearings. Physicians who are CMDA members can play a role in helping inform CEJA during its deliberations. On any medical issue, physicians can express their viewpoint by working with their representatives in the House of Delegates. This AMA assembly works from the local level up and gives every physician and medical student in the nation a representative voice. Your state or specialty medical society can help you contact your delegation. CMDA: Many physicians are concerned about the future of healthcare, especially its cost. What would you say to them? DR. BARBE: During ongoing discussions on the future of health reform, the AMA led a unified front to preserve health insurance coverage for 20 million Americans who were unable to secure it before. By bringing together voices from across the profession and by working with a broad coalition of patient groups, AMA created a physician vision for health reform that was overwhelmingly supported across organized medicine and proved critical to shaping the reform debate in Washington, D.C. We know the status quo is unacceptable, and we will continue to advocate for bipartisan improvements to improve our healthcare system. While the future of the Affordable Care Act has dominated recent headlines, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) has the potential to be equally transformative to our healthcare system in terms of improving quality and lowering the cost of healthcare. Since the enactment of MACRA, the AMA has worked closely with state and specialty societies and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicaid Services (CMS) to ensure
32 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
that the regulations implementing the new Medicare law are workable as physicians transition to value-based care. Those advocacy efforts paid off when CMS adopted a majority of the AMA’s recommendations to help physicians avoid penalties, while providing greater flexibility, relief for small and rural practices and reduced reporting burden. Because we know not enough physicians feel prepared for the new law’s requirements, we have released a number of tools and resources to help them be successful. (For access, visit www.ama-assn.org.) CMDA: Is there anything else you would like to share? DR. BARBE: As physicians, residents and medical students navigate changes in our profession, the AMA listens, supports and empowers them to succeed throughout their unique journeys. Physicians and patients can know that the AMA is advancing patient care and improving the nation’s health by speaking clearly and powerfully in
Congress, in the courts and with healthcare innovators. I urge all physicians to join us and help us shape the future of medicine.
JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE CMDA is a leading voice in the battle against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. For resources and the latest information about the dangers of physician-assisted suicide to healthcare and your right of conscience, visit www.cmda. org/pas. More than 32 states in the U.S. are facing potential legislation this year. If you want to get involved in your local state’s grassroots efforts, contact communications@cmda.org.
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GENERAL Affiliate Needed — Protect life and bring joy into the lives of couples unable to carry a pregnancy to full term. The National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) has reached maximum capacity and needs an affiliate who shares the same Christian worldview and can provide the full range of services currently offered at the NEDC. Over 650 children have been born through embryo adoption at the NEDC since it was founded in 2003, and the program has garnered an outstanding reputation with a success rate above the national norm. Affiliate physician must be a reproductive endocrinologist (REI) who is board certified/board eligible. Contact Dr. Jeff Keenan at 865-777-0088 or email jkeenan@baby4me.net. Go to www.embryodonation.org. Tropical Medicine Course — Clinical Tropical Medicine and Traveler’s Health course ASTMH accredited. Modules 1, 2 and 4 online and Module 3 in person. Online modules start June 11, 2018 and are self-paced. Module 3 (Parasitology and Simulations) July 9-20, 2018. Sponsored by West Virginia University School of Medicine, Global Health Program and Office of Continuing Education. For more information about course or continuing education, contact Jacque Visyak at 304-293-5916, jvisyak@hsc.wvu.edu or http://medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/tropmed.
ADMINISTRATIVE
DENTAL Dental Associate — Well established three dentist, six hygienist, full service dental office seeking an associate to join our practice in St. Paul, Minnesota
34 TODAY'S CHRISTIAN DOCTOR Winter 2017
General Dentist — Established patients and reputation from this 40+ year fee-for-service practice in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Beautiful, new ~5,000 square foot office with the latest technology: CBCT, Periolase, paperless charting and more. Ideal location to reach the vibrant, college community in rural Pennsylvania. The father/son doctors have an excellent dental team. We are seeking an associate who can transition into a partner as the senior doctor phases into retirement. Our mission has always been to treat our patients and staff as our own family. Visit www. Hamilton-Dental-Care.com for more information. If you are interested in pursuing this opportunity, email a cover letter and CV to HamiltonDentalCareLLC@ gmail.com.
Reproductive Endocrinologist — Southeastern Center for Fertility and Reproductive Surgery (SCFRS) in Knoxville, Tennessee has an opportunity for a reproductive endocrinologist to join our dynamic practice. We also share a building and coordinate some operations with the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC). The NEDC is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the lives and dignity of human embryos by promoting, facilitating and educating about embryo donation and adoption. It is critical that the physician who joins the practice be philosophically aligned with the NEDC mission and values. We are offering a very competitive salary and benefits, which will be negotiable and commensurate with experience. SCFRS is located at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The area’s natural beauty, recreational opportunities, high-quality schools, low cost of living and low crime rate make Knoxville a very desirable place to live, raise a family and work. Interested? Contact Dr. Jeff Keenan at 865-777-0088 or email jkeenan@baby4me.net.
MEDICAL Family Medicine — Highly qualified, compassionate BC/BE family medicine physicians are being sought to augment our primary care team in Central and South-Central Illinois. High earnings potential, work/life balance, family-oriented communities with excellent costs of living and great benefits. Work for a faith-based organization committed to patient care regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. Contact: Steve Burton, Provider Recruiter, HSHS Medical Group, 217-492-6599, steven.burton@hshs.org. Family Medicine — St. Vincent Medical Group is seeking a family medicine physician and family nurse practitioner for our family practice in Anderson, Indiana. Join an established, busy practice with a family-oriented staff located in Central Indiana. We are a member of Ascension, the nation’s largest Catholic, mission-driven, not-for-profit healthcare system whose shared mission is to care for the body, mind and spirit of those we serve. Contact Seth.Turner@ascension.org for more information. Family Medicine — Christian family practice has immediate opening for family, geriatric and/or internal medicine doctor to join our team of dedicated providers. Our clinic is conveniently located in Snellville, Georgia “Where Everybody is Proud to be Somebody” with easy access to Atlanta and the airport. It is a great place to raise a family! Abraham Family Medicine has a long history of compassionate care and excellence with a Christ-centered mission. The practice currently has two physicians and three mid-level providers. Competitive and comprehensive benefit package is provided. Contact Practice Administrator Stephanie Breen at stephanie@drbabrahampc.com. Internal Medicine/Family Medicine/Geriatrics/ Palliative Care — HomeCare Physicians, a nationally recognized house call program, seeking BC physician, APN/PA in the Chicago Western Suburbs.
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HEALING THE HURTING, BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES AND TRANSFORMING LIVES SINCE 1981
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Clinical Professor or Lecturer — Baylor University, a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, is seeking a full-time, non-tenure track clinical professor or lecturer in the Honors College. The ideal candidate will possess one or more of the following areas of expertise: public health, epidemiology and medical ethics. Experience in clinical medicine, healthcare administration or healthcare policy will also be valued highly in a candidate’s application. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but to ensure full consideration, your application must be completed by December 1, 2017. To learn more about this position and the Honors College, go to https://jobs.baylor.edu.
Dentist — A west suburban dental practice in the Chicago area is looking for an associate dentist to come on and work toward a future buy-in and buyout arrangement. The office features a modern and contemporary design. The office is set up for all phases of dentistry. This is a Christian-owned practice that focuses on patient needs over business. Owner is transitioning into retirement. Send resume to illinois.dentist1@gmail.com.
Providers deliver medical care to six to 10 homebound patients daily, allowing time to develop strong relationships. Light call duty, no weekend/night house calls, no inpatient work. EPIC EHR used system-wide. Opportunity for teaching. Competitive salary and benefits. Contact Dr. Paul Chiang at 630614-4960 or email chiangcdh@sbcglobal.net.
MEDICINES FOR MISSIONS
Chief Clinical Officer — Position Summary: Under the direction of the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) assumes responsibility for the management and oversight of all patient care services provided by Christ Community Health Services, Inc. (CCHS), including medical, behavioral health, dental and other ancillary services such as pharmacy and HIV services. Position Requirements: Board certification in a major primary care specialty. Minimum three years of experience in progressively responsible administrative or management related positions, preferably in medically underserved communities and/or a community health center setting. Previous experience supervising providers and other clinical staff is essential, with demonstrated success. Two years’ previous experience as medical director or associate medical director with a Medicaid patient population. Experience providing services and exercising leadership in a culturally and linguistically diverse setting, with demonstrated success. To apply, call Bruce Robinson at 901-260-8563 or email bruce.robinson@christchs.org.
with opportunity for equity within six to 12 months. In addition to being a preventive-based clinic we emphasize oral surgery and implant placements and restoration. Please send resume to Dr. Paul Wallin at dentalhealthofmaplewood@comcast.net or call 651482-8332.
CMDA PLACEMENT SERVICES
BRINGING TOGETHER HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS TO FURTHER GOD’S KINGDOM We exist to glorify God by placing healthcare professionals and assisting them in finding God’s will for their careers. Our goal is to place healthcare professionals in an environment that will encourage ministry and also be pleasing to God. We make connections across the U.S. for physicians, dentists, other providers and practices. We have an established network consisting of hundreds of opportunities in various specialties. You will benefit from our experience and guidance. Every placement carries its own set of challenges. We want to get to know you on a personal basis to help find the perfect fit for you and your practice. P.O. Box 7500 •Bristol, TN 37621 888-690-9054 www.cmda.org/placement placement@cmda.org
EVERY STEP OF THE WAY “CMDA Placement Services was with me every step of the way—for prayer, communication, whatever the need may be. I am overwhelmingly impressed by CMDA and their commitment to the Lord, first, and their diligence in seeking the Lord’s will for each medical professional they meet. God led me to CMDA to ultimately direct me to the career that will develop me professionally, spiritually and use me to glorify His kingdom. For this, I am boundlessly grateful!” —Alyssa Allwardt, PA-C Paid Advertisement
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