In the early 1990s, Dr. Patti Francis saw a need for a more directed ministry to women physician and dentist members of CMDA. Dr. David Topazian, who was CMDA President at the time, agreed, and an ad hoc committee was formed. The initial interest was overwhelming. A sponsored breakfast at the 1991 CMDA National Convention hosted 48 women—more than there were seats! The CMDA Board of Trustees was mindful about potential division within the organization—why would women physicians need their own group? With grace, tact and prayer, our pioneers explained women Christian physicians had unique needs that could best be understood by others filling the same roles. By December 1992, the Women in Medicine & Dentistry (WIMD) Commission was formed. In 1994, we hosted our first national conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 87 attendees.

 

I was a medical student at that conference, newly married and wondering how on earth to combine my calling to healthcare with my hope to be a great wife and mom. We sat in a big circle, those 87 women, old and young, single and married, with and without children, and I listened to the introductions. “I’m a full-time OB with a live-in housekeeper.” “I’m a part-time breast surgeon.” “My husband and I share a family practice.” “My husband is a stay-at-home dad.” “I’m a residency program director.” Their stories gave me hope that God would show me a unique path that suited my work and my family—and He did!

 

Other stories were tougher. “People in my church think women should be at home, and most of them are. The women’s activities are scheduled during weekday hours.” “People at work don’t understand my passion for missions.” “I’ve been sexually harassed.” “Men in my church make dumb blonde jokes. They don’t take me seriously unless they need medical connections. Or money.” The more we talked with each other, the more struck we were we had found our “tribe.” We could fully express our womanhood, our medical or dental callings and our faith, without having to minimize our gifts or our struggles.

 

Our early years were led by a strong and faithful core group, including Dr. Dorothy Barbo, Dr. Sally Knox, Dr. Gloria Halverson, Dr. Patti Francis and Dr. Darilyn Falck, among others. Key spiritual advisors along the way included Rev. Marti Ensign and Nahid Hotchkiss, PsyD, both wives of CMDA physicians who had a keen understanding of the challenges we faced. Several of our male colleagues had secretaries or wives who helped them organize and plan events. In contrast, few of us had secretaries, and none of us had wives, so we did our best with CMDA’s help to learn to plan conferences, negotiate contracts, hire speakers and obtain continuing education credit. We needed administrative help but had to raise enough money to support a part-time administrator. From the beginning, we emphasized transparency and authenticity, both in our leadership and in speakers at our conferences. Being a WIMD member was hard, and we did not want to pretend otherwise. Women could come to our conferences, be honest about workplace disasters, health crises and difficult marriages and find other women who understood. They would pray together, receive encouragement and sometimes give wise counsel.

 

Our first formal mission statement from 2001 was “To encourage and support women physicians and dentists in living out their Christian faith in their professional and personal lives.” The WIMD Commission was made up of women physician and dentist leaders who created, ran and funded a variety of ministries to meet unique needs. Our national conferences rotated across U.S. regions for easier access. Women physicians are much more likely to be single than men physicians, and several of our early leaders like Drs. Holly Austin and Jane Goleman were active in the national CMDA Singles Ministry helping identify ways to better support single WIMD members. Others like Drs. Cara Brown, Patti Francis and Amy Givler served on CMDA’s Marriage Enrichment Commission, and they realized that, when participating couples at a Marriage Enrichment Weekend retreat had a woman physician/dentist, their husbands really connected. Since 2013, there has been one marriage enrichment retreat each year in which all the wives are physicians or dentists.

 

In 2013, CMDA leadership encouraged us to reconsider our name as more allied professionals joined the CMDA organization, particularly women. We again felt a clear call from God that our mission was to address the unique needs of women physicians and dentists and their respective trainees and launched as Women Physicians in Christ (WPC). In 2019, in a desire to signal the inclusion of our dental colleagues, we became WPDC—Women Physicians & Dentists in Christ. Drs. Amanda Eschelbach and Elisa Ghezzi have been instrumental throughout the years in leading and networking among Christian women dentists and dental students, and we are now blessed to have two dentists and one dental student sitting on the WPDC Commission.

 

Care for medical and dental trainees has always been a priority. WPDC members fund scholarships for students and residents to be able to attend the annual conference and mission trips. They have established mentoring relationships, and some host local groups for women students and residents. They recently added a research poster competition at the WPDC Annual Conference as some medical students are only permitted leave for conferences if they are presenting research. We have always prioritized excellent continuing education, with at least 12 hours of continuing education credits offered at each conference. WPDC members in academic medicine, as well as those in private practice and on the mission field, have all given generously of their time and knowledge to teach us. They model dedication to ongoing learning and teaching as a core part of our ministry.

 

A desire to care for our women in transition, burnout and times of loss led to the creation of a small-group weekend retreat designed specifically for six to eight physicians and dentists in practice or retirement. Grasping Power through Surrender (GPS) retreats began in 2011. They are led by a spiritual director (currently Jane Goleman MD, DMin) and an experienced WPDC physician helper. They take place all over the U.S. and have been a powerful tool for encouragement and discernment for numerous WPDC members.

 

A key inflection point came in 2013, when we had numerous ministries and ideas, and our conferences were approaching 200 participants. Dr. Autumn Dawn Galbreath helped me sift through the applicants, and God led us to Debbie McAlear, our first full-time administrator at CMDA headquarters. With her background in conference planning and publishing, she was uniquely positioned to help us grow. The Pulse e-newsletter launched with her help, now reaching more than 7,000 women physicians and dentists each month. With Debbie’s recent retirement, we were blessed to add Events and Operations Manager Monica Giglio to our team, and she has already proven to be a dedicated and talented addition to the ministry.

 

Strategic planning meetings in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2019 have helped us discern God’s leading for the group over time. By 2009, our vision was to be “The key resource for Christian women physicians and dentists in integrating their personal, professional and spiritual lives.” Thus, our mission expanded: “To encourage and support Christian women physicians and dentists as we share the unique challenges of multiple roles through authentic relationships (Acts 2:42), personal growth (Psalm 119:10), discipleship and mentoring (Titus 2:3-4) and professional development (Colossians 3:23-24).”

 

One important aspect of WPDC is service through healthcare missions. In 2008, WPDC began partnering with CMDA’s Global Health Outreach to send short-term healthcare mission teams made up primarily of women. Especially for women and children who have been trafficked, women physicians and dentists who serve on these teams help patients feel safe and provide models of strong, capable, loving Christian women. In 2011, Drs. Chris Borghi-Cavallaro and Gloria Halverson built relationships with founders of the House of Hope, a ministry initially in Nicaragua and later in Honduras. They returned twice a year from 2013 to 2017 and annually most years since, though limited by civil unrest and COVID. Women healthcare professionals provide medical and spiritual care to both women in brothels and those who have moved to the House of Hope with their children. In addition to their time, talents and medical equipment, WPDC members gave generously over time to provide a bus, school uniforms and supplies for children, and we even funded medical school tuition and supplies for a Nicaraguan woman physician. A number of WPDC members returned repeatedly, building relationships with the staff and the women served at House of Hope. Lives were changed, and God was glorified.

 

In 2014, WPDC launched Women Missionary Doctors (WMD) led by Dr. Joy Draper, targeting the needs of women physician and dentist missionaries who face unique challenges in balancing leadership, patient care and singleness or family responsibilities. Resources include an e-newsletter, informal networking and mentoring. Pioneering women missionaries have played key roles at the annual conferences through gripping and inspiring keynotes, like Drs. Helen Roseveare, Margaret Brand, Cynthia Hale, Carol Spears and several others.

 

Another key role for WPDC within CMDA is to nominate women to serve on CMDA’s House of Representatives and CMDA’s Board of Trustees. Although women make up about half of most medical school classes, relatively few obtain leadership roles in medical or Christian organizations. Effective women leaders encourage younger women to try. It is challenging for busy women to take on even more roles, but a number of WPDC participants accepted God’s call to serve on the board, and three have been elected president of CMDA: Drs. Dorothy Barbo, Ruth Bolton and Gloria Halverson. Currently, 10 of the 20 members of the board are women physicians, dentists or students.

 

One of the interesting things we noticed at WPDC annual conferences was significant racial diversity. We recognize that our WPDC members of color face additional challenges. WPDC workshops have addressed racism in the church and helped WPDC members of color to network and encourage each other. Drs. Andrea Johnson, Brenda Abraham and Joy Walton are active WPDC members serving on the CMDA R²ED Committee (Racism, Reconciliation, Equality and Diversity), and they can bridge ideas and resources between WPDC and R²ED.

 

COVID brought unexpected challenges and blessings to WPDC. We had to rapidly convert our annual conference to an online platform in 2020, which led to growth in attendance and even allowed some of our overseas members to participate! We began quarterly virtual conferences offering worship, a keynote speaker and small-group breakouts allowing women to meet other WPDC members and the opportunity to continue those connections afterward.

 

Even back in person, these quarterly meetings encourage and bless numerous WPDC members, especially those who are in more rural settings or are unable to leave work or caregiving responsibilities to come to a weekend conference. Being a Christian woman in healthcare can be incredibly lonely. When you wonder if your church questions whether you should be working at all, and the healthcare culture wants you to work more (with less support and without regard for your caregiving responsibilities or health), and you face the challenges of sexism (and for some, racism or ableism), it is hard to persevere.

 

This is why WPDC exists. Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the lonely in families….” For a lot of us, the sisterhood of WPDC is the family that supports us through medical training and practice, retirement, singleness, marriage, divorce, widowhood, having children, infertility, loss and issues in our churches including rejection during the COVID pandemic. If you are a Christian woman physician or dentist, and you have felt lonely or wondered if there is anyone out there who understands your unique needs, we do. Come join us in Branson, Missouri on September 5-8 for the WPDC 2024 Annual Conference and learn what it’s like to be “God-empowered, beyond your wildest dreams!”

 

About The Author

Dr. Leslie Walker’s MD and MS (Neuroscience) degrees are from the University of Michigan; her BS in Biochemistry is from Wheaton College. She completed her psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2000 and began solo practice in Cleveland in 2007. She specializes in treating physicians and in women’s mental health. She formerly served as the women’s trauma program psychiatrist for the Cleveland VA Hospital. She teaches at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and speaks nationally to physicians on psychiatric topics, work/family balance, faith, resilience and self-care. She and her physician husband have two adult children and previously served on the CMDA Marriage Enrichment Commission. She has been active in the Christian Medical & Dental Associations since 1991, serving as past chair of the Women in Medicine & Dentistry commission and current member of the Northeast Ohio CMDA advisory council.

 

Learn More

Women Physicians & Dentists in Christ (WPDC) is an outreach ministry to provide resources for Christian women physicians and dentists to integrate their personal, professional and spiritual lives. We encourage and support Christian women and physicians as we share the unique challenges of our multiple roles. To learn more and get involved, visit cmda.org/wpdc.