ICMDA Recordings

By ICMDAReligion & Spirituality Christianity

ICMDA Recordings episodes

September 01, 2022 Webinar #118 Dr Chris Jenkins - Building resilience
Recorded on 1 September 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Alex Bolek chairs a webinar and Q&A with Dr Chris Jenkins.
Resilience, the ability to spring back after being under pressure, is an important quality everyone needs for the trials of life. This is especially true of those serving in other cultures when the familiar supports of life are not available.

Components of resilience include a solid devotional life, taking care of yourself physically and mentally, accountability and prayer partners, fellowship groups and church as well as organizations that understand their role in helping missionaries endure the difficulties of cross-cultural life and ministry.

But what do you do when the crisis strikes? When faith is weak, when thoughts are racing and sleep escapes you in spite of the external structures you have in place, how do you find the inner strength to see you safely and successfully through the trial?

We will quickly cover the external resources important to making it through trials but focus primarily on the personal, inner resilience building truths that God has given us in His word to see us through whatever trials we may experience in this life.

Chris has been a Christian for five decades. Before going into family medicine, he worked with a missionary organization starting adult literacy ministries in Africa and Asia in order to help Christians read the Bible for themselves and to also give them a tool to reach their non-Christian illiterate neighbors by teaching them to read while sharing the gospel with them. He now works in medical education in the US as well as parts of the 10-40 window including the Middle East, Central, South and East Asia and elsewhere. He has been learning spiritual resilience throughout his Christian journey and finds that in every stage of life he must lean harder on the Lord, dig deeper into his Word, and pray for the spiritual resources needed to make it through trials with faith, integrity, love, and obedience intact.
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
58 min
August 25, 2022 Webinar #117 Dr Antony Latham - The enigma of consciousness
Consciousness is a slippery thing and hard to define. We are not talking about medical ‘levels of consciousness’ but the actual phenomenon of what it is to be a conscious person.

Descartes famously proposed a dualism where the mind is a distinct ‘substance’ from the body, even if intimately interacting with it. Indeed, since Descartes philosophers have struggled to explain how something purely physical could have free-will, emotions, sensations and personhood.
This webinar hopes to discuss what this means for Christian clinicians who know that we, and our patients, are more than just bodies but are also souls.
Dr Antony Latham
Dr Antony is a retired GP, originally from Dublin, now living on the Isle of Harris in Scotland. He has worked in Kenya and then, with his family, as a missionary in Tanzania prior to general practice in the Western Isles of Scotland. He has had an interest in philosophy of mind and consciousness for many years and wrote a book on this subject: ‘The Enigma of Consciousness. Reclaiming the Soul’. He has an MA in Bioethics and Medical Law and chairs the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics.
58 min
August 19, 2022 Webinar #116 Dr Paul Coulter - The art of healthcare
The idea that medicine is an art runs from the thought of Aristotle through the Hippocratic Oath into modern times. But there is much confusion over what the art of healthcare is and how it relates to scientific knowledge.
This is more than a theoretical issue – it makes a real difference to how we think of our patients, our relationships with them, the nature of health and the shape of excellent care.
This webinar will consider some deficient understandings of the art of healthcare and will propose an integrative understanding that is thoroughly evidence based but more than merely scientific.
Dr Paul Coulter
Having worked as a junior doctor, Paul moved into pastoral ministry and studied pastoral theology to PhD level. His commitment to disciple and train Christian servants led him into lecturing in practical theology then into his current role, as Head of Ministry Operations with Living Leadership, developing a network of people helping leaders live joyfully and serve faithfully in Christ. His passion for ethics, apologetics and evangelism undergirds his voluntary role as Executive Director of the Centre for Christianity in Society, which connects Christ with contemporary culture. Paul lives in Northern Ireland with wife, Gar-Ling, and their two teenaged children.
1 hr
August 13, 2022 Webinar #115 Dr Perry Jansen - Systems thinking for mission hospitals
Recorded on 11 August 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Peter Saunders chairs a webinar and Q&A with Dr Perry Jansen
Mission Hospitals operate in some of the most challenging environments in the world. Sustaining health services in a way that maintains quality while honoring God’s call to serve the poor can seem unattainable.
Prior ICMDA webinars have covered tools and approaches for managing mission hospitals. In this session, we will take the “30,000-foot view” of the complex and dynamic environments we operate in and how we can apply the science of “Systems Thinking” to improve strategies and impact.
Dr Perry Jansen
Dr. Jansen is a family physician and served with SIM in Malawi from 2000-2016. He founded the Malawi non-profit hospital Partners in Hope (PIH), which has grown to be one of the largest providers of HIV treatment in the region as a key training partner with the Ministry of Health and USAID. After realizing his goal of handing PIH over to Malawi leadership, Dr. Jansen attained his MPH, with an emphasis on global health leadership. Dr. Jansen is now Vice President at African Mission Healthcare leading initiatives to strengthen mission hospitals to expand medical education and strengthen indigenous healthcare leadership.
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
55 min
August 05, 2022 Webinar #114 Dr Shari Falkenheimer - The life cycle of the Christian doctor
Recorded on 04 August 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Santhosh Mathew chairs a webinar and Q&A with Dr Dr Shari Falkenheimer on "The life cycle of the Christian doctor"
Becoming and practicing as a Christian doctor is a long process throughout our adult lives with several stages, moving from medical school through specialty training to practice and retirement. I like to divide these into the stages of setting a foundation, formation into our specialty, practice when fully trained, and our time of finishing. It’s important that as we go through each stage of medical training and practice, our spiritual lives mature and grow as well, This webinar will discuss the medical and spiritual aspects that apply to teach stage and the practices that should characterize the Christian physician.
Shari Falkenheimer
Sharon A. ("Shari") Falkenheimer, M.D., M.P.H., M.A. (Bioethics), PhD is board certified in Aerospace Medicine. She has over 40 years of experience in a variety of roles including teaching, applied research, clinical medicine, medical leadership and planning. She mentors the Albany (NY) Medical College CMDA group and has taught in 30 nations. Dr. Falkenheimer is an international advisory board member of the Christian Journal for Global Health, a member of the American Academy of Bioethics, and a life member of the Christian Medical Association.
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
53 min
July 29, 2022 Webinar #113 Dr Rachael Pickering - Introduction to torture & ill-treatment
Recorded on 28 July 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Peter Saunders chairs a webinar and Q&A with Dr Rachael Pickering & Esther Cutting
This session provides a very gentle introduction to a difficult but necessary subject. Every healthcare professional should learn about torture and ill-treatment. In today's global society, refugees fleeing man's inhumanity to man can be found across the globe; yet they still bear chronic physical, mental and spiritual scars.

Healthcare professionals working within and near to police stations, prisons and other places of detention can all too easily find themselves sucked in to turning a blind eye to ill-treatment and even frank torture; and it's a slippery slope from that to medical involvement in torture.

The relevant international humanitarian law appears complex to the untrained eye and applies to only certain nations. And you won't find relevant medical information in your local healthcare library. And why is this bloody subject particularly suitable for Christian healthcare professionals to stain our hands with? Our Lord's own tortured hands tell it all.
Dr Rachael Pickering is a British-trained family medicine specialist. Since 2007 she has majored on offender healthcare. When in the UK she locums within English prisons. She is the co-founder of Integritas Healthcare, a NGO with a HEART for detainees – delivering Healthcare, Expertise, Advocacy, Research & Training for & about detainees.

The pandemic prompted Integritas to branch out into telemedicine. And since COVID-19 has now calmed down somewhat, she's just got back to spending around a quarter of her life working behind bars in the Philippines and other low- and middle-income countries. Her webinar will be coming to you from Integritas' base on the western coast of Luzon, Philippines.

Rachael is married to fellow prison doctor Mark who is also the CEO of the UK's CMF. Their greatest joy is their young adult daughter Zoe who spent most of her teenage years hopping in and out of Asian jails. She has become the best healthcare assistant a prison doc could wish for!
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
For Integritas Healthcare visit https://integritashealthcare.org
59 min
July 22, 2022 Webinar #112 Dr Benjamin Chang - Speaking for Christ in the culture wars
Recorded on 21 July 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Peter Saunders chairs a webinar and Q&A with Dr Benjamin Chang.
The last decade has seen identity politics transform the Western World. Movements such as #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Gay Pride and the Transgender Movement have told the captivating narrative of oppressed identity groups who are rising up to fight their societal oppressors. However, in this grand narrative, Christians have found themselves labelled as the oppressors who need to be overthrown.

In this webinar, we will be looking at how we can speak for Christ in this challenging world of identity politics, in ways that are faithful to the bible, loving to our neighbours, and credible to a hostile world.

Dr Benjamin Chang is a speaker, writer and Emergency Physician in London. He speaks regularly at conferences, churches and universities on a range of issues including bioethics, Covid and identity politics. His new book “Christ and the Culture Wars: Speaking for Jesus in a World of Identity Politics” (published by Christian Focus) is due to be released in Spring 2023.
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
1 hr
July 15, 2022 Webinar #111 - Prof Harold Koenig - Are faith and health related?
Recorded on 14 July 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Peter Saunders chairs a webinar and Q&A with Prof Harold Koenig.
Dr Koenig examines the relationship between faith, coping with stress, and mental health, covering topics such as depression, suicide, PTSD, substance use disorders, etc, followed by a model that describes how religious involvement influences mental and social health.
He then examines the physical health consequences of a devout religious faith, examining health outcomes such as immune and endocrine functions, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, cognitive decline with aging, risk of cancer, and overall mortality. Then briefly reviews applications to clinical practice and provide further resources that listeners can turn to for more information in this area.
Dr Koenig completed his undergraduate education at Stanford University, his medical school training at the University of California at San Francisco, and his geriatric medicine, psychiatry, and biostatistics training at Duke University.
He is board certified in general psychiatry, and formerly boarded in family medicine, geriatric medicine, and geriatric psychiatry. He is on the faculty at Duke University Medical Center as Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Medicine and is the Director at the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health.
He has over 570 scientific peer-reviewed academic publications, nearly 100 book chapters, and over 55 books in print or preparation; and is co-leader of the team training all US Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard chaplains on “Spiritual Readiness” for combat operations by US service members.
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
59 min
July 08, 2022 Webinar #110 - Dr Trevor Stammers - Mitochondrial Donation
Recorded on 7 July 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Peter Saunders chairs a discussion with Dr Trevor Stammers.
Mitochondrial replacement techniques were legalised in the UK in 2015 and more recently in Australia in March 2022, ostensibly as a way to enable mothers with affected mitochondria to have genetically related children without fear of passing onto them the risk of severe mitochondrial diseases.
The webinar will explain these techniques, explore the controversies surrounding their legalisation and use and critique the capture of language in promoting them to the public.
It will raise questions about why they might be being promoted and whether they really work. Finally, we consider if they are ethical and explore some scriptural reflections on their use.
Dr Trevor Stammers is Editor of The New Bioethics journal. He was formerly Associate Professor of Bioethics and Medical Law at St Mary's University and was a family doctor for 27 years before going into academia.
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/
57 min
July 01, 2022 Webinar #109: Dr Calum MacKellar - Eugenics and heritable genome editing
Recorded on 30 June 2022 for ICMDA Webinars.
Dr Peter Saunders chairs a discussion with Dr Calum MacKellar.
What will it mean for society if science enables us to choose a future child whose health, athletic ability or intelligence is predetermined? This future is becoming ever more likely with the latest developments in human reproduction.
New procedures, making possible heritable genome modifications open the door to ‘sanitized’ selective eugenics; but these practices have some unnerving similarities to the discredited eugenic programmes of early twentieth-century regimes. A Christian perspective is urgently needed to evaluate both current and future selection practices.
After completing his Diplome d'Ingénieure in bio-organic chemistry with the European High Institute of Chemistry, now part of the University of Strasbourg, in France, Dr MacKellar obtained his doctorate in Biochemistry with the University of Stuttgart in Germany. He worked with the University of Edinburgh as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and then in Glasgow industry synthesising new kinds of DNA to be used as possible drugs against disorders such as AIDS. He taught biological chemistry & bioethics at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, before returning to Strasbourg to work with the Bioethics Division of the Council of Europe.
Since 2003 he has been the Director of Research of a Scottish bioethics charity and a Visiting Lecturer & Professor in bioethics at St Mary’s University, London. He is a member of the United Free Church of Scotland and is the author of The Ethics of the New Eugenics (2014) and Christianity and the New Eugenics (2020).
To listen live to future ICMDA webinars, visit https://icmda.net/resources/webinars/

1 hr