Welcome to all current and future physicians, nurses, & healthcare workers! We are excited to join together to celebrate our community, provide personal support tools & educate one another on how to emulate Catholic principles in the Medical Profession!
This year we will have three wonderful networking opportunities for all of our attendees:
- Friday Evening Reception at a Local Physician's Home
- Saturday Lunch with a Physician in the Specialty you are most Interested In
- Saturday h'ors d'oeuvres reception.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL STUDENT REGISTRATION IS FREE THROUGH MARCH 8, 2019 DUE TO A GENEROUS DONATION FROM OUR SUNDAY VISITOR.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Thomas McGovern at twmcgovern@comcast.net.
MEDCON 2019 will take place in the Evans Center of Marian University which is located on the corner of 30th St. and Cold Spring Rd.
The building can be distinguished by two large multi-colored stained glass walls on the southwest corner of the building or by the words "Alan and Sue Leighton School of Nursing" on either side of the building.
Double click to zoom within the map to the left.
DIRECTIONS TO MICHAEL A. EVANS CENTER GUEST PARKING
From the Northwest: Go south on I-65 and take the 38th Street exit. Turn right onto Kessler Boulevard and go south to
30th Street. Turn left at 30th Street, then turn left on Tyrone Drive (second entrance past St Vincent Health football
field). Guest parking is located in the first parking lot on your left— first row of spaces directly in front of the sidewalk.
From the West: From I-70 or I-74 East, take I-465 North to 38th Street and turn right. Then right on Kessler Boulevard,
left on 30th Street, then turn left on Tyrone Drive (second entrance past St Vincent Health football field). Guest parking
is located in the first parking lot on your left— first row of spaces directly in front of the sidewalk.
From the South: Go north on I-65 and take the 38th Street exit. Immediately exit again onto Kessler Boulevard and turn
right at the light. Proceed south on Kessler to 30th Street. Turn left at 30th Street, then turn left on Tyrone Drive
(second entrance past St Vincent Health football field). Guest parking is located in the first parking lot on your left— first
row of spaces directly in front of the sidewalk.
From the East: Go west on I-70 and take the I-65 North exit. Go north on I-65 and take the 38th Street exit. Immediately
exit again onto Kessler Boulevard and turn right at the light. Proceed south on Kessler to 30th Street. Turn left at
30th Street, then turn left on Tyrone Drive (second entrance past St Vincent Health football field). Guest parking is located
in the first parking lot on your left— first row of spaces directly in front of the sidewalk.
From the Northeast: Go west on I-465 to I-65 South and take the 38th Street exit. Turn right onto Kessler Boulevard
and go south to 30th Street. Turn left at 30th Street, then turn left on Tyrone Drive (second entrance past St Vincent
Health football field). Guest parking is located in the first parking lot on your left— first row of spaces directly in front of
the sidewalk.
“In this fast-paced T.E.D.-talk style presentation using insights from your own temperament, spiritual gifts, and flow experiences, get a better idea of where in medicine you will find the most joy, and therefore, spread the most joy to your patients and colleagues. We all seek joy for its own sake, and you will spend many years in medical training and a medical career, so why not make it as joyful as possible! “
Dr. Williams will give an overview of the neurobiology of all addictions - including the advantages and disadvantages of viewing addiction through the brain disease model. He will further talk about the importance of discussing pornography use with patients and parents and why this is even more critical in our digital age. He will discuss some of the barriers to these discussions including the normalization of pornography use in our society.
Dr. Berger will help participants gain an understanding of the role of physiological dependency on opioids in the genesis and maintenance of opioid use disorder. In addition, participants will have a chance to explore ethical issues in the treatment of addictive disorders.
This panel draws on personal stories of caregivers and loved one’s to explore the art of finding joy amid situations of great suffering. Panel members will draw upon their experience, both in the clinical and home setting, to provide participants with lessons for helping people—patients, families, caregivers—find and foster meaning in difficult situations of suffering. Participants will gain key insights for developing healthy and healing relationships that emphasize compassion as solidarity, sharing in the suffering of another. Only when we share the suffering of another can we truly share their joy.
When Catholics talk about social justice, we necessarily discuss the inherent and transcendent dignity of man (CCC 1929). In this part of the conference, we consider three populations at risk of marginalization - the incarcerated, the sexually assaulted, and the homeless - and what the medical community can do to help restore these persons on the path to Joy.
A growing number of practicing and training physicians report report dissatisfaction with the state of modern medicine, with work-related stress and fatigue being reported by record numbers. Caregiver "burnout" is now considered a major cause of concern by healthcare systems. In the midst of these concerns, many are wondering how to rediscover the joy that comes with a sense of calling, with the aspirations that draw so many to medicine in the first place. The panelists will each share and will also discuss as a group this concept, through career reflections, personal narratives, and stories of patient care - revealing how we can finding meaning and even joy amidst caring for our neighbor.
Since 2014, Elliott Bedford, MA, PhD has served as Director, Ethics Integration for St. Vincent. In 2008 and 2009, he received a bachelor and master of arts in Philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, OH. He completed a master of arts in Theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis, MO. in 2012 and obtained a Doctorate in Health Care Ethics, Catholic Tradition, from St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO in 2014. As Director, Ethics Integration, Elliott provides leadership in fostering the moral identity of St. Vincent Health in Indiana as ministry of the Catholic Church. Working with staff from senior leadership to frontline care providers, he leads the development and integration of ethics education, consultation, and policy development services for St. Vincent’s 20 acute care facilities and roughly 16,000 associates. He also works closely with Ethics leadership at Ascension Health in St. Louis, Missouri to provide support services across its nationwide ministry and helps foster relationships with the Catholic dioceses of Lafayette-in-Indiana and Evansville, and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He is also an adjunct professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Marian University, Indianapolis.
Dr. Berger received his medical training in Detroit and Philadelphia. He began formally working in Addiction Medicine in 1983. He has been Medical Director at Brighton Hospital, now is Medical Director at Guest House in Lake Orion, Michigan. Founded in 1956, Guest House is a lay-run treatment center for Catholic clergy and Catholic Men and Women Religious with Addictive Disorders. Dr. Berger is Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Berger has been named Father of the Year by his 6 children for 38 consecutive years. All 6 of his children are active in the practice of their faith. His wife of 41 years, Ann, is providentially surviving his sense of humor.
Brandon Brown earned his MD and MA from Indiana University in medicine and philosophy through a joint degree program. He is Assistant Professor of Radiology, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Philosophy, and Medical Humanities at the IU School of Medicine and in the School of Liberal Arts. He works as a Pediatric Radiologist at the J.W. Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN, and is one of the founding members of the Fetal Center at Riley Children’s Health, where he is Director of Fetal and Perinatal Imaging.
Dr. Brown is also actively involved in teaching and research regarding medical professionalism and ethics. He is a member of the section on bioethics for the American Academy of Pediatrics. He serves as vice-chair of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee for the Radiologic Society of North America, and is chair of the Committee on Professionalism for the Society for Pediatric Radiology. He serves as the co-medical director for physician wellness at Riley.
In 2012, Chris lost his first wife to colon cancer. Their story is told in his memoir, It is Well: Life in the Storm, where he details his wife’s battle with cancer and what it means to respond to human suffering with faith. Chris’ story led him to embark on a journey to create sustainable business models to serve the healthcare needs of everyday families and the chronically ill. In 2015, he launched Bene Plates, which is described as a “food revolution” for the terminally or chronically ill. Bene Plates provides nutrient-rich meals to patients across the country, delivering fully prepared food right to their front doors.
Before founding Solidarity in 2012, Chris had a diverse background in youth ministry, marketing, and business development. His career includes several years as a marketing and social media consultant to non-profit organizations, film studios, businesses, and Catholic ministries. Chris often shares his story, along with offering insight to healthcare and end-of-life
issues, as a regular guest on television and radio programs.
Chris is married with five children, and is active in the Catholic Medical Association, the Diocese of Phoenix and his home parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tempe, AZ.
Dr. McGovern is a dermatologist practicing Mohs surgery since 2000 in Fort Wayne, IN. A graduate of Mayo Medical School, he served eight years in the U.S. Army as a physician and then trained in surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine. He was the founding president of the first CMA Guild in Indiana and now serves on the national board of the Catholic Medical Association and plans the annual Leadership Training Meeting for Catholic Physicians. He hosts the weekly hour-long, magazine-style Catholic radio show, Doctor, Doctor on Redeemer Radio. He has been married to Sally for 27 years and is the father of 7 home-schooled children.
Dr.Turek is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and a graduate of Miami University (Ohio) in 1990 and Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (now A.T.Still University) in Kirksville, Missouri in 1995. He finished a Family Practice Residency at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois in 1998 and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Practice since that time. As the father of 6 expensive children, Dr.Turek stumbled upon prison work within the Ohio State system primarily to supplement his income. For the past 8 years, he has taken care of prisoners in multiple institutions within the system including death row in the state of Ohio. As he started to take care of inmates he came to realize what a blessing it is to care for folks who often are forgotten and ignored by society. Justice perhaps is served but as Catholics we are called to mercy. This has motivated Dr.Turek as he has worked at these prisons providing medical care for acutely sick and chronically ill inmates. And Jesus Christ and the Church become common topics when the situation arises--and it often does. Desperate people tend to turn their minds toward existential questions.
He has a day job with the Veterans Administration in Columbus, Ohio and dabbles in Catholic Radio as a hobby to make things more interesting. Long suffering Browns, Indians and Cavs fan, Dr.Turek attempts to live his Catholic Faith out every day, remaining involved in multiple Catholic apostolates all over central Ohio.
Marc is in his second year of his Internal Medicine/Family Medicine residency program at St. Vincent Hospital. He studied Biology and Theology at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, graduating in 2012. He taught high school boys for a year while attempting and succeeding to woo his wife, Heidi, before attending and graduating from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA in 2017. He is an intentional disciple of Jesus Christ and a Tolkien enthusiast. Marc and Heidi live with their son, John Paul, in Broad Ripple.
Margaret is a clincial mental health counselor from Panama City, Florida. She has spent the last two years at the Children's Advocacy Center of Florida, using trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy to counsel child victims of sexual abuse. Margaret is a wife to Ryan and mom to Isaac (3), Silas (2), and Naomi Regina (1). Ryan, a former Protestant pastor, and Margaret converted to the Catholic Church in April 2017.
Dr. Joshua Williams has been in Chicago for the last two years working as a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Compass Health Center, an intensive day program for both children and adults, in Northbrook. Dr. Williams grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. where he studied international relations. He completed the post-baccalaureate premedical program at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. Dr. Williams attended medical school at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He spent the past five years in Boston, Massachusetts where he completed his internship and residency training general psychiatry at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program and his Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Cambridge Health Alliance. Dr. Williams is board certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry.
Dr. Williams’s has experience treating children and adults of all ages in a variety of treatment settings. Dr. Williams has published on the intersection of religion, spirituality, and medicine and on psychiatric education and children’s mental health in China. His clinical interests include cross-cultural psychiatry, psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, OCD, ADHD, tic-disorders, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders and behavioral addictions.
In his limited spare time outside of the library in med school, met his wife, Christina. They have three children, Emmett, Rose and Peter, and live in Glenview, Illinois.
Dr. Rice graduated from the University of Notre Dame (‘81) and Indiana University School of Medicine (’85). He completed his pediatric residency at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis. Since 1988, he has practiced general pediatrics in South Bend, IN, held several teaching and leadership positions and, with his wife, Nancy, has raised seven children.
Tawana presently works as Nursing Manager of Peyton Manning Children's Hospital Newborn ICU at St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. Tawana has 14 years in NICU leadership, prior 17 yrs NICU patient care and charge RN. Tawana served as part of the initial ECMO team caring for the most critical patients in the NICU and PICU. Tawana was instrumental in bringing NICView remote camera video access to parents and families separated from their children to Indianapolis. She serves as a national reference for Natus NICView camera technology/implementation in NICUs throughout the US. Tawana has served on the St. Vincent Ethic Coordinating Council and as an Embedded Ethics Resource at St. Vincent Women's Hospital.
Tawana received her MSN Leadership from WGU and her BSN from Phoenix University. She has her Nurse Executive Board Certification by ANCC and Advanced Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse certification by NCC. Tawana completed her Clinical Ethics Intensive training under Elliott Bedford Director of Ethics Integration.
The Catholic Medical Association was created in order to help medical professionals grow in the spirit of Christ, to bring His Spirit to all touched by our science and art, and to assist the whole Christian community with the unique leadership and knowledge we have as Christian Physicians.
The Indianapolis guild seeks to unite and empower local Catholic healthcare providers to deepen their own relationship with the Holy Trinity and to share their faith with like-minded health professionals.
