CMA Medical Students and Residents: The Future of Catholic Medicine

September 22, 2023

The 92^nd Annual Educational Conference saw the most medical students and residents in attendance to-date in large part thanks to the generous donations by CMA members to the Medical Student and Resident Education Fund.

Eighty-two medical students and residents from all over the country spent three days in Phoenix, Arizona along-side physicians and health care professionals of various specialties and years of experience. Students were able to seek guidance and spend time with experienced members, as well as during social times including the end-of-conference Banquet Dinner. Additionally, students and residents had special events geared toward fellowship such as the Medical Students and Residents Dinner and Social.

Another area that brought students and residents together was The Poster Session, in which the CMA showcased academic and scientific posters as well as those that focus on themes of bioethics, theology and philosophy as they relate to medicine. The abstracts were peer-reviewed during the conference and winners announced during the General Assembly. This year’s winners included medical students Margaret McCann, Sean Daly, Joseph Mullally and Michael Nicholls.

These students and residents are part of Novus Medicus, CMA’s outreach ministry to medical students, residents and young physician members.

“Practicing Catholic medicine courageously is very important in our times, especially for this new outreach program of Novus Medicus,” said OB-GYN and Novus Medicus Chair Dr. Jonathan Scrafford. “This is a target audience that needs to be encouraged in their studies so that they can go out there to practice courageously. We are relying on this next generation of health care professionals.”

First time attendee Talia Caridi, a second-year medical student at Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Ohio University in Columbus, couldn’t agree more.

Tara Caridi speaks at the conference about her experience at CMA’s Medical Student and Resident Boot Camp.

“For me conferences are usually overwhelming but this one has been overwhelming in the best way,” she said. “I have not only heard about courage and what it means to speak the truth in a world where it is not always spoken, but I’ve also seen the witness of so many physicians who stand for the truth of our faith every single day.”

Ms. Caridi, whose goal is to be a pro-life OB-GYN, entered her first Poster Session at the conference. She submitted an abstract in the bioethics category based on her undergraduate research about natural family planning, NaProTECHNOLOGY and Humanae Vitae.

“It was great practice to have conversations with experts in the field about these very topics,” she added.

Her conference experience and being part of Novus Medicus has provided the support she needs to “go forward into these challenging circumstances,” she said. “We are the future of Catholic medicine. I think CMA’s Novus Medicus is a great opportunity to really garner the troops and be deployed on mission for the Church and in Catholic Medicine.”