Breakout 3, Saturday, April 15 1:15pm

What is the legal framework surrounding rights of conscience held by healthcare providers?

And how does that legal framework play out in the real world? This session will try to answer these questions, gaming out scenarios where the conscience rights of healthcare providers seem to intersect with standards or expectations of the medical community and culture at large. We will talk through the safeguards and provisions in the law, looking for the intersection between what the law permits and what the Lord might desire of the individual healthcare provider.

Natalie is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Liberty University School of Law, focusing her teaching and scholarship in the areas of First Amendment law and family law. Natalie got an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Liberty University undergrad, then earning a Juris Doctorate from Liberty University School of Law. Drawn to the study of law to address violations of human rights that occur across the globe, Natalie developed a working knowledge of how the United States Constitution safeguards individual liberty against tyranny. She clerked post-graduation on the Virginia Court of Appeals, handling criminal appeals and matters of domestic relations. Now, as a professor, she is developing her own research on how the law protects freedom of thought, human dignity, and inalienable rights.

Any disciple of Jesus who chooses medicine or dentistry or other healthcare discipline and who believes that God is calling/leading them to serve long term in cross-cultural missions (whether domestic or international ministry) can experience ministry "disability" in the process by at least five major "life-mines" that I call the "Five F's". In this talk, we will discuss these "life-mines" and how students, residents and grads planning on medical ministry/missions can stay on track and be obedient to God's call and the advancement of God's Kingdom purposes through their lives.

During his fourth year of medical school, he volunteered for two months at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya where he met CEO Dr. Ernie Steury and Medical Director Dr. David Stevens. During his third year of surgical residency, God brought Mike’s high school sweetheart Pam back into his life, and they married in August 1991. A few months later, they traveled to Kenya and Tenwek Hospital in 1992 for two months where both enjoyed getting to know the Tenwek community while Mike was immersed in surgical care in a busy surgery referral center in rural Africa.

Mike completed a general surgery residency at Methodist Hospital in 1993 and then joined Southwestern Medical Clinic, a group in Southwest Michigan dedicated to global healthcare missions. Former CMDA and ICMDA president Dr. Bob Schindler and his wife Marian mentored Mike and Pam until their departure for Tenwek in 1996. Mike was board certified in general surgery in 1995 while working with Southwestern.

Mike was drawn to the orthopedic surgery service as Tenwek had no long-term bone surgeon. He was also named Medical Director in mid-1997. Tenwek grew remarkably during Mike’s tenure as surgeon and medical director to a clinical staff of over 80 physicians and clinical officers and more than 700 total staff. Training programs for interns, family medicine, general surgery and orthopedics were also developed and launched during those years.

Mike and Pam left for Kenya in August 1996 with two small children and added two more while at Tenwek Hospital: Steven, Melody, Kayla and Ashley.

In 2015, Dr. David Stevens invited Mike to consider returning to the U.S. to assume the role of CMDA Executive Vice President. After seven months of prayer and seeking counsel from mission leaders, mentors and close friends, Pam and Mike decided to leave their Kenya home and mission life of 20 years and moved to Bristol, Tennessee in July 2016. Mike has counted it an amazing privilege to serve alongside David Stevens and Gene Rudd and all the national CMDA staff for nearly four years. In September 2018, after an eight-month CEO search process, the Board of Trustees asked Mike to becEmail Mikeome the next CEO of CMDA and he began September 1, 2019, when Dr. Stevens stepped down. Mike’s life verses are from 2 Timothy 1:6-7: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (ESV). To God be the glory, great things He has done!

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Both the Old and New Testaments give amble insight about The Messiah's approach to physical and emotional suffering and disease. What would Jesus do about America's health disparities, addictions, or mental health crisis? What would he not do?

Rick Donlon grew up in New Orleans and graduated from TCU in 1986. He completed medical school at LSU-N.O., and a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. In 1995 he and three medical school classmates opened a primary-care health center for the poor in Memphis’s most medically underserved neighborhood. The work eventually grew to include eight health centers, five dental clinics, and a family medicine residency program providing over 170,000 patient visits annually.

Beginning in 2003, many of the medical and dental providers, including Dr. Donlon, moved into the underserved communities where they work. In those same low-income settings, they’ve planted over a dozen house churches. That house church network has subsequently sent dozens of long-term medical missionaries to North Africa, The Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, and the Horn of Africa.

Physicians, dentists, and other healthcare workers who’ve trained with Dr. Donlon in Memphis have started or joined similar ministries in low-income communities across the US. Dr. Donlon, his wife Laurie, and their children live in the Binghampton neighborhood, where he serves as an elder in the house church network.

This session continues a next-level discussion from the plenary session: “Flourishing: The Burnout Antidote.” We will specifically overview some of the more prevalent mental health challenges among medical trainees and professionals including stress and overwhelm, depression, and anxiety, and these as potential contributors to burnout. The session will also highlight how these issues may show up among medical trainees and professionals as high-performing individuals. Finally, we will explore some practical B.A.S.I.C.S. for building a personalized and proactive plan for mental health flourishing.

Dr. Natalie Cupples Pickering is an organizational psychologist, board-certified coach, wife, mom, Ironman triathlon finisher, and an Enneagram style 1. She loves good coffee, mountains, deep conversation and supporting transformation. Her mission is to equip, inspire and empower wholehearted professionals and leaders in the workplace, community, and the home to promote personal and professional flourishing.

She is the CEO of High Places Coaching and Consulting, Inc. and is the Organization Development psychologist at a government healthcare system where she specializes in leadership development, burnout prevention and emotional intelligence.

Dr. Pickering enjoys supporting emerging leaders in the development of their leader identity and translating this to performance impact to build resilient people, teams, and organizations. She has significant experience supporting healthcare professionals across settings and specialties and served as a global worker in West Africa. Dr. Pickering's experience also includes work with public and private schools, hospitals, community mental health centers, not-for-profits, local businesses, solopreneurs, universities, and government agencies. She has developed and managed an internal Employee Assistance Program (EAP) program and coached and consulted executive leadership of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations across various industries.

Learn more at www.yourhighestplace.com

Any healthcare setting requires a multidisciplinary team with complimentary skillsets to successfully meet the needs of patients and communities. This is true in inner-city Chicago or rural Burundi.

Join us for a panel discussion providing perspective from a nurse, an advanced practice provider, therapists, and educators as we explore these exciting and important fields and the key roles they play in healthcare missions.

Lisa O. Gazan MSN/Ed, RN (PhD in progress)- Professor Lisa Gazan joined the Liberty School of Nursing in the Fall of 2020 bringing with her a varied background in nursing education, home care, hospice case management, training, and leading.

She is experienced in the development, implementation, and growth of new programs including a health careers academy, the spearheading of foundational work for accreditation approval of a new BSN program, and the development of a newly expanded hospice. At Liberty she has developed the Cross-Cultural Nursing class and taught a variety of other courses. She has also led nursing abroad trips and is currently working on her PhD in nursing education with an emphasis on Cross-Cultural Nursing.

She was born and raised until the age of 12 years old in Guatemala, Central America where her parents served as missionaries, and she attended school in Spanish and German. She and her husband served as missionaries in Kenya, East Africa, and in the U.S. preparing and training new missionaries.

A favorite verse is Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” She loves joining others in their professional journey and helping them fulfill God’s unique purpose and plan for them.

Caroline Mrowiec received her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Midwestern University and completed a fellowship at Memorial Hermann to specialize in neurological conditions. Caroline has a special interest in medical missions and spent three years volunteering with a nonprofit organization in Vietnam to start a therapy center for children with special needs, and has published a book on her experiences there. Caroline also has a passion for therapeutic photography. She has run programs with children and developed a new program for adults. Recently, Caroline moved to Tennessee to help start a therapy farm with services based in animal and nature-assisted intervention.

Skip Roy obtained his BS from Penn State and his Physical Therapy training from Duke. He also has his Masters in Health Administration from Pfeiffer University.

He worked for over 50 years at WakeMed as a physical therapist, and served as manager of Acute Rehabilitation Services. Although retired from his official duties there, he continues to volunteer at WakeMed. He has been involved with healthcare missions work, serving as the Director of Physical Therapy for Alliance Medical Ministry and as a volunteer Physical Therapist at Tenwek Hospital. He also has participated on Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Response Teams.

He has received numerous awards for his distinguished service including Outstanding Physical Therapist (NCPTA), Olive Wortman Service Award (NCPTA), President’s Award (NCPTA), and Circle of Quality Service (WakeMed).

Skip is married to Brenda, his wife of soon to be 49 years. He has a son and 4 grandchildren ages 10, 7, 6 and 2. He enjoys running. He is involved in multiple church activities including chairing the mission team.

Dr. Vickie Moore brings 25 years of family nurse practitioner experience to the classroom. She started her nursing career as a perioperative nurse and perioperative educator. After graduation from the nurse practitioner program at Old Dominion University, she began her second career as a family nurse practitioner in the OB/GYN setting. Professor Moore worked as an undergrad adjunct professor for LUSON Online for many years prior to joining the DNP-FNP team early on in the FNP program teaching Women’s Health. As a full-time faculty, Dr. Moore teaches a variety of the FNP courses.

Dr. Moore and her husband Phil are lifelong residents of the Lynchburg area. They have a grown son and daughter who are both married and live in the Lynchburg area. They have three grandchildren. Dr. Moore and her husband love to travel and share the world with their friends and family.

Dr. Moore was involved in a medical mission to Jamaica for 18 years and considers this one of her greatest loves.

This session introduces three foundational faith questions I have asked every student and resident who I've come in contact with over the last 20+ years, questions on identity, application, and calling. The answers to these questions not only can clarify where God is speaking in the life of a particular person, but also provide strength and resiliency to one's faith due to the assurance that knowing those answers provides. Personal stories from our family's own faith walk and Beacon's history will help add context.

Dr David Kim is a physician, co-founder and currently CEO of Beacon Christian Community Health Center (“Beacon”), which missionally serves an underserved, diverse population in Staten Island, New York City. He has a heart for "bringing Jesus into the exam room" and has spent many years hosting, teaching, training and mentoring students, residents and fellow medical colleagues in hopes of raising a new generation of health professionals who will practically live out their faith in their work and life. Beacon has lived out its Jeremiah 29:7 commitment to "shalom" for its community by taking the lead locally and regionally in addressing such crises as Superstorm Sandy, COVID-19, and most recently, the migrant refugee/asylee crisis.

Dr. Kim graduated from State University of NY Health Sciences Center of Brooklyn, College of Medicine (“Downstate”), and completed his Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency at Staten Island University Hospital and Kings County/Downstate Hospital. He went on later to receive his Healthcare MBA from George Washington University School of Business, Washington, D.C. He is the blessed husband of Dr. Janet Kim, and a fortunate father to four incredible children.

Beacon offers, in the backdrop of the unique international and socioeconomic mission field of New York City, targeted student and resident rotations which combine comprehensive clinical and community experiences with teaching sessions which offer a didactic, Scripture-centric approach to healthcare.

More info can be found at www.beaconcchc.com, its teaching ministry, www.beacon360.org, or by contacting Dr. Kim at davidk@beaconcchc.com, or Dr. Jeeji Mathunny, Student Ministry Coordinator, at jeejim@beaconcchc.com.

Healthcare opens up avenues for relationships that are beyond anything we could plan or hope. Because every person is made in the 'Image of God' and is of invaluable worth, we have the privilege to be with them in moments of insecurity and vulnerability. As trust grows, relationships flourish. In this session, Dr. Anderson will share examples about how healthcare opens the door for the Gospel. He’ll share about how the Lord used his time both in the military and then later through an NGO in Uganda to share the love of Christ with people around the world, both in word and deed. You’ll be challenged to consider how God will use your healthcare skills to share His love!

Dr. James Anderson is CEO of Team Care Medicine, helping doctors find greater joy by removing the load of EHR documentation, freeing them to focus on relationships with patients and medical decision-making.

Dr. Anderson is a primary care physician whose clinical career spans more than 40 years.

Now retired, he was a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was board-certified in both family medicine and emergency medicine. He has received multiple awards as a family practice educator and has helped train over 200 primary care residents.

Dr. Anderson served in the US Army Reserves and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a former trustee of CMDA and a leader in his local church. He has served his community in a variety of volunteer leadership roles and has participated in a variety of medical mission trips. He is married, with four adult children.

Often we think of missionaries serving in remote third world countries. Dr. Stinar is the director of the Fredericksburg Christian Health Center, where the medical team work as “local missionaries.” In this session you will learn multiple ways to advance the Gospel through healthcare, whatever your work context. You will come away from this session with new ideas of what it means to be a missionary,” as well as practical tools on how to intentionally be an ambassador for Christ in ANY healthcare setting.

Dr. Stinar is a family physician who has been trying to live for Jesus since the 8th grade. He served on active duty in the Army for 7 years, to include directing a clinic in Germany and deploying for a year in Afghanistan. In 2013 his wife felt called to start her own ministry, and God led the family to Virginia where Dr. Stinar could work part time at the Fredericksburg Christian Health Center and spend more time with family. In 2016 he transitioned back to full time work, and in 2017 assumed leadership of the ministry.

Dr. Stinar has learned to live missionally beyond the scope of third world countries, but also while in uniform, or an exam room, or providing medical care to the homeless, or to those in a church, or in the crowd of a heavy metal concert.... wherever you find yourself you can reflect the Light of Christ.