Over the past decade, medical & dental campuses open annually here in the West and this year will be no exception. Due to the anticipated shortage of physicians and dentists, each year for the past seven or eight years, new medical and dental schools have opened to answer the growing need.

When I joined the CMDA staff in 1984, there were 26 campuses here in the 12 western states. This fall there will be 35 campuses with most of the new schools opening in the past ten years.

• In 2003, Arizona’s first dental school opened at A.T. Still Univ. in Mesa. Last year that same campus opened a new medical school.
• Midwestern Univ. will open a new dental school this fall in Glendale, AZ bringing the number of AZ medical & dental schools to six.
• This fall two new medical schools open in Yakima, WA—Pacific Northwest University, and in Parker, Colorado—Rocky Vista University. Both universities plan to open several new healthcare schools, almost one a year, over the next five years, including dental, pharmacy and nursing, at least.
• Three more medical schools are still in the planning stages in Riverside & Merced, CA and Lebanon, OR.

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Side by Side - Ministry for Medical Wives
Spotlight on Side by Side - San Antonio, TX
Hola from Side By Side in San Antonio, Texas! While our chapter’s members come from all over the United States, we have bonded through a calling we share: to be a part of this city for a time. For me personally, these sisters in Christ have provided unparalleled encouragement during my first year as a wife of a medical student. Bi-weekly, we meet together to study God's Word, lift one another up in prayer, and simply fellowship. In January, we started Beth Moore's study of Daniel. It has promoted many in-depth discussions of how we can lead lives of integrity in the midst of a Babylonian, "me-centered" culture.

Side By Side-San Antonio first began after Kellie Hooker attended the National CMDA meeting during the summer of 2006. San Antonio typically has a higher rate of married students than many other medical schools. This creates a need for support and mentoring among student wives. The previous years would start with a fantastic Wives Mug N Muffin Brunch...

Read More about Side by Side - San Antonio

What is Side by Side?

Global Health Outreach
Testimony by Lilika White, Rafael Del Sur, Nicaragua Team Participant - March 2008
During this trip God really spoke to me about the family of believers. Prior to coming I attended worship services where everyone looked just like me. Coming to Nicaragua, I saw the physical differences between myself and the people, but I realized our hearts for God were identical. The people LOVE God just as much as I do and this allowed me to connect with them instantly. It was a blessing to serve my brothers and sisters in Christ, and realize that we are all one big family and should love one another as so. Not only did I see and witness God’s grace and mercy daily, but I was challenged to convey it to others, even when I did not want to. I had to be an example of a Christian and show both believers and non-believers how the love of Christ will cause you to reach out to others in love.

Medical Education International
By the Director of MEI
Advanced Life Support Instructors Needed!
Are you trained and/or an instructor in one or more advanced life support courses*? Do you like to teach? Could you participate in a mission trip in the next year or two? If so, Medical Education International (MEI), the CMDA missions branch that provides training to physicians and dentists in other nations, needs to know about you! MEI is getting increasing requests from nations in Africa, the Middle East and Central and South Asia to teach provider and instructor courses incorporating the principles of these courses, but adapted to the local situation. There is a big problem though — MEI has no way to identify CMDA members with expertise in these topics! Would you be willing to make yourself available and ask the Lord if He wants you to join one of these teams? If so, go to www.cmda.org/mei, fill out an MEI application/waiver form there, and send a copy of your CV to mei.director@cmda.org. This won’t commit you to anything, but will get you into the MEI database so we will be able to identify your expertise when we need team members for these courses. And you never know what adventure the Lord may lead you to as a result!
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*Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Life Support Obstetrics (ALSO), and Comprehensive Advanced Life Support (CALS)

Women in Medicine & Dentistry
May Devotion By Karen Bullock, MD
Lessons from Grace
I love Grace. Now there’s a profound devotional statement, huh? Grace is not only the free gift of God and a theological wonder; she is my dog---a fawn colored Doberman to be exact. She looks like a 60-pound muscular miniature deer, and prances around like a princess while protecting her domain from the postman and any unwitting bugs that fly in the house. And her favorite thing, other than ice cubes, tomatoes, and liver treats, is to walk — no, run — on her leash.

Like many dogs, children and women physicians you may know, Grace has two speeds - stop and GO! Whenever we start up the hill that leads from my home, she wants to sprint, so excited to be out and about, migrating with her “pack leader” (if you are a Cesar Milan Dog Whisperer fan). I give into this sometimes and race her, and have been unwittingly dragged down sharp roadsides into scratchy weeds. No matter how many times we do this, though, she still tries to run and not walk, and when it’s hot, gets so exhausted that she plops down and can’t go any further. She still doesn’t get that if she went at a steady pace she could be close to me and we’d enjoy ourselves more, and she wouldn’t get so tired from straining at the lead.

Read Full Devotion

Video: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080602-2.wm.v.html
Transcript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/06/20080602-2.html

What is the Washington Office?

“About four years ago, I was on a mission to help build houses in Juarez,” said Dr. Small. “While working side-by-side with a local resident, I told the man that I was a doctor. The man said that I should come back to build people—not houses. This conversation sparked the idea of returning to the area to treat patients.” Read Full Article

His Call to Serve is Loud and Clear
CMDA Member Dr. Bob Sayon in The Oregonian
April 24, 2008--Dr. Bob Sayson saw his share of life's inequities while growing up in Manila, the Philippines. The oldest of seven children, Sayson saw one brother die of leukemia and another go to the stockade after martial law was imposed in 1972. There were two constants in his life, however: his spiritual call to lead a life of service and a desire to see quality health care for everyone, regardless of their occupation, income or medical history. "The medical care system there was good. There was a woman who was our family doctor and she was a wonderful example to me," Sayson said.

2008 Distinguished Alumnus of UT Southwestern Parkland Surgeons
CMDA Member Rebekah Ann Naylor, MD
Christian Medical & Dental Associations member Rebekah Ann Naylor, MD will be honored as the 2008 Distinguished Alumnus of UT Southwestern Parkland Surgeons this month. Her life is chronicled in the new biography, Rebekah Ann Naylor, M.D.: Missionary Surgeon in Changing Times. Dr. Naylor earned an undergraduate degree at Baylor, and then attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She completed her surgical residency at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she was the first woman to graduate in the surgical residency program. She then worked in India for more than 30 years as a medical missionary and unselfishly served people in need. Read Press Release

For a complete listing of conferences CMDA provides, visit our Master Calendar.

CMDA 2008 National Convention Click here or the image below for more information and registration!

CBHD Ethics Conference - Healthcare & the Common Good
CBHD's 15th Annual International Conference on Bioethics
Institutes: July 14-17, 2008
Conference: July 17-19, 2008
Seminars: July 21-23, 2008
Chicago, Illinois

This conference will identify the pressure points in the current domestic healthcare system, examining the economic, educational and care issues surrounding this complex topic. Beyond merely identifying problem areas, the conference also will provide a programmatic vision of the common good as well as a symposium of constructive proposals for re-envisioning policy, health and care all of which emerge from this framework of the common good. Academic Credit is available for conference, institutes and seminars.

I encourage you to attend the the best Christian bioethics conference in the US at Trinity University in Deerfield, IL July 17-19, 2008. This year it focuses on “Healthcare and the Common Good” with Christian bioethicists from across the country, dynamic speakers, a wide variety of workshops and lots of brainstorming time. I received my masters in bioethics through Trinity and CMDA jointly sponsors this challenging cutting edge conference. -- CMDA CEO Dr. Dave Stevens

Click here for additional information or to register.

Women in Medicine & Dentistry - "Basking in the Son"
WIMD Tenth National Conference
Join us September 25-28, 2008 in sunny San Diego, CA at the Hilton San Diego/Del Mar, an elegant hotel located in North San Diego's charming, historic seaside village of Del Mar. Convenient to pristine beaches, championship golf courses, San Diego's favorite attractions, dining and shopping. Join in WIMD fellowship as we encourage one another to "Bask in the Son" and continue our pursuit to be the physicians, dentists, students and women to which God has called us. Click on the link below for more information and to make your reservation. Be sure and ask for the conference rate of $110.00 per night, stating the code: CMD. Cut-off date for discount rate is September 10, 2008.

Click here for more information and registration.

Just Add Water - Practice By the Book
The Just Add Water DVD series now includes a Practice By the Book set! You loved it in print, now you can watch it on DVD, use it to host a meeting, or use it as a discussion starter in a small group. This 10-disc set covers ten different topics from the book: one session per disc. Single sessions vary in length from about 16 to 27 minutes and are narrated variously by Dr. David Stevens, Dr. Gene Rudd or Dr. Al Weir. The ten discs come conveniently stored in 10 secure ring-bound pages in a one-inch thick album. Sessions covered are: Marriage & Family, Our Spiritual Foundation, Our Testimony, Developing Your Character, Clinical Practice, Managing Money, Practice of Compassion, Missions, Ethics and What in This World Is a Christian Doctor? All this for $50.00!
Call 888-231-2637 to order.

Marriage Enrichment Weekend Conferences
Visit our Marriage Conferences Calendar for more details on these two conferences as well as all of the upcoming 2008 MEW conferences. If you have questions, feel free to contact Melinda Mitchell at melinda.mitchell@cmda.org.

Marriage Enrichment Conference: Scholarships Available
Scholarships are available to help defray costs for students to attend these marriage conferences to help them strengthen their marriages in the stressful times of medical school and residency. Contact CMDA Marriage Enrichment Commission Chair Rodney Mirich, MD when you make your reservation.

What is the Marriage Enrichment Ministry?