AAME Board of Reference
State Directors
Our state directors work to protect the Hippocratic values of Western healthcare across the country.
Dr. Steven Willing received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia, completed an internship in pediatrics from the University of Virginia before undertaking a residency in diagnostic radiology at the Medical College of Georgia, and a fellowship in neuroradiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Willing spent 20 years in academic medicine at the University of Louisville, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He also earned an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1997.
During his academic career, Dr. Willing published over 50 papers in the areas of radiology, informatics, and management. His personal blog on science apologetics, The Soggy Spaniel, may be found at swilling.com.
George Stewart, MD, grew up in New England and received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in 1958. He received his MD from the State University of New York in 1964. He completed his internship in internal medicine at the Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, Washington. After spending two years doing viral immunology research and an additional two years working with the Indian Health Service in Bethel, Alaska, he returned to Seattle to complete his internal medicine, pulmonary and critical care training. In 1971, he returned to Alaska and practiced pulmonary and critical care medicine until retiring in 2005. Since retiring from active practice, he has been on seven mission trips with Medical Education International and two other mission trips.
Dr. Allan Sawyer is a graduate of Oral Roberts School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. He has won numerous awards chosen by his colleagues in medicine as well as the public and media. After nearly 25 years in private OB/Gyn practice, Dr. Sawyer now devotes himself to teaching, serving and relieving long-term missionaries at hospitals in developing countries. In addition to his medical mission work, he also is a Liberty University School of Divinity student and a member of Samaritan’s Purse’s Disaster Assistance Response Team. In 2016, he was honored by his medical school alma mater, Oral Roberts University, as the Alumnus of the Year in the category of “Going Into Every Person’s World.”
David H. Beyda, MD, is the Chair and Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. He is an accomplished Master Educator and critical care physician with more than 40 years of experience practicing pediatric critical care bedside ethics. He teaches the ethics curriculum throughout the four years of medical education and engages in medical humanism through the lenses of medical ethics at the bedside, stressing “who” the patient (personhood) is while addressing “what” the patient (disease) is. He has written two books: Covenant Medicine: Being Present when Present and Border Crossings: It’s not what we bring, but what we leave behind.” He is a member of the CMDA Ethics Committee.
David Smith, MD is a hospice & palliative medicine specialist in Little Rock, AR and has been practicing for 43 years. He graduated from University Of Missouri—Columbia School of Medicine and specializes in hospice & palliative medicine and cardiology. He was awarded the Fay Boozman Award, given annually to a physician who has demonstrated excellence in Christian faith and personal life, integration of faith into the practice of medicine, and commitment to community service and public health. He was a founder of Heart Clinic Arkansas and served as a cardiologist for 35 years. In 2012 he became director of supportive medicine at Baptist Health-Little Rock where he serves as chairman of the medical ethics committee. He is one of the founders of the Haiti Christian Development Project and has worked on short-term and development projects there since 1985. After completing a master’s in bioethics, he has taught molecular biology, biochemistry and pre-med students at Harding each fall since 2000. He serves on Harding’s Missions Advisory Council and has helped develop a third-world village for training missionaries at Camp Tahkodah.
Dr. J. Grady Crosland is an anesthesiologist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine. He serves on the Bioethics Committee at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Crosland has received numerous honors and awards including Arkansas’ Best Doctor in Anesthesiology from the Arkansas Times multiple years, Best Doctors in the United States, Central Region and Golden Apple Award for recognition for Excellence in Resident Education.
Dr. Allen Roberts is originally from Alexandria, VA. He took his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1977 and his M.D. from George Washington University in 1983. He completed his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 2013, and will complete a Masters in Bioethics through Trinity International University later this year. In 2003 he retired from the US Navy Medical Corps, after a 20-year career in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care, during which time he served as White House Physician under President George H.W. Bush. For the past 16 years he has practiced Critical Care Medicine at Georgetown University Hospital, where he now serves as the Associate Medical Director for the hospital, and Chair of the Clinical Ethics Committee. He is the State Director for DC for the American Academy of Medical Ethics.
David Araujo, MD, FAAFP, graduated from the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. in 1984. He completed a residency in family medicine and a faculty development fellowship at the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, California. Since then, he has remained in graduate medical education and has been a residency program director in family medicine for the last 26 years. He is currently the Program Director and Designated Institutional Official in Ventura, leading 45 residents and 15 faculty members. He holds a faculty appointment at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Ethical issues confront us in medicine, but in academic medicine it is especially highlighted in how to go about training the next generation of physicians.
James M. Small, MD, PhD graduated from Colorado College, Summa cum Laude and Duke Medical School in Microbiology and Immunology. Completed a Pathology Residency at the University of Utah. He is Board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and in Medical Microbiology. He works at a large teaching hospital in Denver and is the medical director for Microbiology and Chemistry labs. He has served as the Chair of the Public and Patient Relations Committee for the College of American Pathologists.
Jack Pike, PA-C, DFAAPA, has been a physician assistant for over 40 years, having been raised and trained in Illinois. He moved to Connecticut in 1984. He has been a surgical PA for most of those years but now works in occupational medicine in Hartford. He is an adjunct clinical assistant professor in the PA program at Quinnipiac University. Jack is a member and Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and has served in various leadership capacities. He has been involved in medical mission work for many years with his church and other groups, serving in India, Africa, Moldova, Jordan, Greece and Dominican Republic. He is involved with the opposition to physician assisted suicide in Connecticut, testifying before the public health committee, and educating the public through churches about PAS. His blog can be found at http://jackpikepasblog.blogspot.com
Adrienne E. Abrenica, DNP, obtained her BSN from Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania in 2006. She then returned to school and completed her first MSN degree in 2014 from the University of Pittsburgh. She became an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and worked for two years with the cardiothoracic surgery team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. After moving to northern Delaware in 2016, she began working under Cardiology at ChristianaCare. In 2018, she went back to school at Wilmington University in Delaware to complete her post-masters degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner as well as obtain her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2020, while receiving the Academic Excellence award for her graduating class. She is the former President of Sigma Theta Tau’s Omicron Gamma chapter and a former Daisy Award recipient. She has gone on medical mission trips to help serve in Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
Dr. Vizcarrondo attended Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia, PA. He completed a residency in Pediatrics and subspecialty training in Pediatric Cardiology. He subsequently completed a masters’ program in Bioethics. He held academic appointments at several university medical schools and is currently Associate Professor (voluntary), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and member of the UM Ethics Programs. Dr. Vizcarrondo is the president of the Miami Guild of the Catholic Medical Association. He has written on a variety of topics ranging from freedom of conscience of healthcare workers, the doctor patient relationship and euthanasia in Pediatrics.
Thomas P. Garigan, MD, MA (Bioethics), FAAFP, is a family physician and professor at the Medical College of Georgia. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in biology in 1981, and then he served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army for four years. He completed airborne and Ranger training and served for three years in the Army’s Berlin Brigade. He then attended the University of Virginia School of Medicine and graduated in 1989. His subsequent 20 years of military service as a physician were marked by a broad array of clinical, leadership and operational assignments including in Korea, Bosnia and Iraq. He completed the Army’s Command and General Staff Officer Course in 1996 and the University of North Carolina Family Medicine Faculty Development Program in 1997. His active-duty service was followed by 13 years of federal civilian service as faculty at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, where he developed ultrasound and other training programs and taught Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO), while also providing full-service family medicine. During this time, Dr. Garigan also served as chief of an OB/Gyn clinic for two and a half years and completed the master of arts in bioethics at Trinity International University. In 2023, he became faculty and professor at the Medical College of Georgia/Augusta University, where he continues to teach medical students and residents.
David R. Haburchak, MD, MACP
David Haburchak, MD, MACP, earned his bachelor of arts and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins University and is a diploma graduate of Moody Bible Institute. He is certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases. He has served in numerous leadership and educational roles during nearly 25 years—each in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and the Medical College of Georgia, where he was Professor and Residency Program Director, followed by five years as key faculty at the Kennestone Internal Medical Residency Program in Marietta, Georgia. He has served on medical ethics and peer review committees. Dr. Haburchak has participated in numerous short-term medical and educational missions overseas and has served in free medical clinics and local public health and religious commissions. He also provides volunteer medical care at a refugee clinic in Clarkston, Georgia.
Craig Nakatsuka, MD, is a general interist specializing in long-term care, hospice and palliative care. He received his undergraduate from Wheaton Collge in Wheaton, Illinois in 1975. He graduated in 1979 from John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. He did his internship and residency at St. Mary's Medical Center in Long Beach, California from 1979 to 1982.
David L. Miller, DO
David Donaldson, MD graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1988 and from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1992. He completed an Internship at St. Vincents Hospital in Indianapolis from 1992-1993 and an anesthesia residency at the University of Louisville in 1996. He is Board Certified in Anesthesiology. He practiced for five years in Pensacola, Florida at Sacred Heart Hospital before moving to Indiana. He has worked at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana since 2001. He and his family have participated in mission trips to Africa.
Steven Foley, MD, FACOG, is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist currently practicing as an OB hospitalist in several rural hospitals in Indiana. He graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University and completed medical school and residency training at Indiana University in Indianapolis. He has been actively involved supporting pregnancy resource centers throughout his professional life. He is active with the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists (AAPLOG) and has assisted in several litigations with Alliance Defending Freedom. Steve and his wife Diane have been married for 43 years, and they have four married children and 11 grandchildren.
Diane Foley, MD, FAAP, is a board-certified pediatrician and currently directs the public health operations of Longview Technology Solutions providing medical services in multiple states. She graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University and completed medical school and residency training at Indiana University and Methodist Hospital of Indiana in Indianapolis. She has served in a variety of roles with pregnancy resource centers including advocacy and public policy endeavors. Most recently, she served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Patricia L. Goodemote, MD, graduated from the Uniformed Services University (military medical school) in 1992. As a U.S. Air Force physician, she served as a flight surgeon and family medicine physician, and she taught nine years at Air Force residency programs where she was awarded Teacher of the Year by her residents on three separate occasions. The Uniformed Service Academy of Family Physicians also selected her as the Family Physician of the Year in 2011. Since retiring from the military in 2012, she works part-time as an emergency room physician in Iowa rural hospitals so she can homeschool her three children. She has also served locally as a Chief Medical Officer, served as an ER Medical Director, volunteered at two local free clinics and is the medical director at a pregnancy center. Presently, she is a consultant and provider coach for Wapiti Medical Staffing. Dr. Goodemote is passionate about caring for people from the womb to the tomb. She lives outside of Stanton, Iowa with her husband of 23 years and their three children.
Lisa Gilbert, MD, FAAFP is a board certified family medicine physician and core faculty at Ascension Via Christi Family Medicine Residency Program, affiliated with the University of Kansas. She grew up overseas, but attended medical school at UT Southwestern in Dallas and residency in family medicine in Wichita. She completed a 1 year Fellowship in International Family Medicine, including 5 months in Niger, and obtained the Certificate of Knowledge in Tropical Medicine and Traveler's Health (CTropMed) from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). She has subsequently volunteered short-term with Partners in Health during the Ebola crisis in Liberia, as well as in Cameroon, Niger and Egypt. She worked in full-spectrum family medicine in rural Kansas for almost 3 years before returning to her alma mater to pursue academic medicine, and is a regular volunteer at a student-run clinic for the homeless. She also serves as Chair of the Ethics Integration Committee at Ascension Via Christi.
Steven A. House, MD, HMDC, FAAFP, FAAHPM, received a B.S. in biology from Furman University, and he is an AOA member and 1995 graduate of Mercer University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at The Medical Center of Central Georgia (now Navicent Health) in 1998. He is board certified in Family Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and he is a certified Hospice Medical Director (2014). Dr. House has worked in medical education and graduate medical education (GME) since 2001, teaching medical and osteopathic students, Family Medicine residents, and Geriatrics fellows. He assisted in the development of a large palliative medicine consultation service in 2004 and the first ACGME-accredited Palliative Medicine fellowship in GA in 2009. He relocated from Georgia to Kentucky in 2010 where he continues to pursue his passions for medical education / GME, end-of-life care, and advance care planning.
Ted Brown, DO, MPH, MS, FAAFP, earned his BS from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1996, his DO from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2000 and his MPH from Johns Hopkins (2007). A colonel in the U.S. Army, he is board certified in family medicine, general preventive medicine /public health and occupational and environmental medicine. Dr. Brown is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He and his family have enjoyed numerous assignments in seven states as well as Germany, serving soldiers, families and retirees. In addition to a combat tour in Afghanistan, his military service has included travel to 21 countries to include public health work in the Republic of Georgia, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq. He is currently assigned to Fort Knox in a non-clinical role, managing leader development and assignments for senior army medical officers. His personal interest is advocating for, and protecting, the right of conscience in healthcare.
Amy Givler is a family physician in Monroe, Louisiana. She graduated from Wellesley College and Georgetown University School of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at Ochsner LSU Hospital Monroe, an indigent-care hospital where she now works as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Comprehensive Care. She also works at an urgent-care clinic and is a volunteer doctor for SHIP trips to western Kenya. She is the author of Hope in the Face of Cancer: A Survival Guide for the Journey You Did Not Choose.
Dr. White specializes in General Cardiology. Dr. White went to the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport and completed his post-doctoral residency training at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed a Fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Chest Physicians. He is a past president of the Shreveport Medical Society and current Healthcare Ethics Consultant—Certified (HCEC-C) by the HCEC Certification Commission of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. Articles Dr. White has authored can be found at this link.
Sharon Hedges, MD, is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist practicing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She attended Cedarville University in Ohio and then completed her medical training at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport. She completed her OB/Gyn residency at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. After 17 years of private practice, she recently transitioned to the role of an OB/Gyn hospitalist, as well as teaching obstetrics for the Baton Rouge General Family Medicine Residency Program. She has participated in numerous short-term mission trips and spent three years in Kenya working at Kijabe Hospital.
Dr. Kershner, DO is a practicing Family Practitioner in Bangor, Maine. Dr. Kershner graduated from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2012. She completed a residency at Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Sandy Christiansen, MD, FACOG is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. She earned a B.S. in Microbiology and graduate degree in pathology from the University of Maryland. In 1986, Dr. Christiansen completed medical school at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. In 1990, she completed residency training in obstetrics & gynecology at the Hospital of the Medical College of Pennsylvania and entered private practice and served as attending physician at several teaching hospitals in Philadelphia. A complicated twin pregnancy led Dr. Christiansen and her husband to move back to her home state of Maryland. For the past 12 years, she has devoted her time to being an advocate for life-from conception to natural death, and to the practice of Hippocratic medicine. She is the medical director and staff physician for a nonprofit free clinic providing medical services, education, and emotional and spiritual support for women and men faced with an unplanned pregnancy. In addition, she serves as the National Medical Director for Care Net, a nonprofit Christian organization that promotes, prepares and partners with their network of more than 1,100 pregnancy centers to offer life-affirming alternatives to abortion. She is a member of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists. Dr. Christiansen is privileged to be a voice for the voiceless, writing, educating, and providing testimony to a variety of forums including the United Nations, the President’s Council on Bioethics, legislative bodies, and commentary to numerous national media outlets.
Dr. James Hines was born in Warsaw, Indiana and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry and Biology from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He received his MD from Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis in 1980 and completed three years of Family Medicine Residency in Ft. Wayne, IN. Jim entered the OB-Gyn Residency program in Saginaw, Michigan after completing a course in tropic medicine in Antwerp, Belgium and spending two years in the Central African Republic as a missionary. In 1991, he established the Obstetrics Department at St. Luke’s Hospital (now, part of Covenant HealthCare) in Saginaw, Michigan. He and his family spent two addition years in the Central African Republic before relocating to Saginaw, Michigan where he has practiced OB/Gyn since 1994. He is respected as an excellent surgeon, having gained expertise in pelvic reconstruction and robotic surgery. He also is certified in dexitometry and ultrasonography. He is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Medicine, Clinical Densitometry and Diagnostic medial Sonographers. He is currently the Chief of Staff at the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center which serves over 37,000 Veterans in 35 Counties. He has also served as the Incident Commander for the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Catherine Stark, MD, is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist who has been a practicing pro-life physician for more than 28 years. She received both her undergraduate degree in pharmacy and her medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. After completing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1998, she founded a private practice in the Detroit area with other like-minded pro-life physicians. She has enjoyed caring for thousands of pregnant women and their unborn children during her career. She is a member of the Troy Beaumont Hospital medical staff (emeritus) and is an adjunct assistant clinical professor at Oakland University William Beaumont Medical School. She began volunteer work with local pregnancy resource centers in 1998, and after retirement from her medical practice in 2022, she now works as a pro-life advocate and volunteer medical director for three centers in southeast Michigan. Since 2018, Dr. Stark has been a member of the Abortion Pill Reversal Network and serves on the network’s medical advisory committee through Heartbeat International. She has also participated in multiple short-term healthcare mission trips overseas. She is the mother of four adult children and proud grandmother of 13. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her beautiful grandchildren.
Paul Post, MD went to medical school at the University of Minnesota, graduating in 1978. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at the University of Minnesota Associated Hospitals in 1981. He then moved with his family to the Chisago Lakes area north of St. Paul and practiced family medicine for 37 years. He retired in 2019 but has kept busy serving as Medical Director for two local crisis pregnancy centers, serving on the board for Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, and leading Bible studies at Union Gospel Mission, as well as serving in his local church.
Paul “Russell” Roberts, MD, completed his medical degree, internship and residency in radiation oncology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. He is a radiation oncologist at the nation’s largest rural hospital, North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. Dr. Roberts has enjoyed mentoring undergraduate students, medical students, residents and fellows. He has also served on mission trips to East Asia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and the Mississippi Delta.
Josephine L.A. Glaser, MD, is a board-certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). She currently works as a primary care physician for Dedicated Senior Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri, a division of ChenMed, where seniors are treated with compassion, dignity and respect. She also works as a primary care physician consultant for Show-Me ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) to connect interdisciplinary teams of experts with primary care providers and other professionals. Dr. Glaser graduated with a major in biology and a minor in psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and attended the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Dr. Glaser serves as the Missouri American Academy of Family Physicians St. Louis Director-At-Large and Co-Chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Physicians for LIFE Member Interest Group. She enjoys mentoring students, residents and young physicians. Active in the fight against assisted suicide, Dr. Glaser serves as Secretary of the Board of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, USA.
Robert Paul Schneider, DO, FAAFP, is a board-certified osteopathic family medicine physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). He is retired but serves as a supervising physician for the Northeast Regional Medical Center’s Family Medicine Residency Clinic in Kirksville, Missouri. Additionally, he lectures for the Department for the Advancement of Osteopathic Education, Still OPTI (Osteopathic Principles and Training Institute) and the National Center for Osteopathic Principles and Practice Education across the nation. He is a guest lecturer at Truman State University (also in Kirksville, Missouri) in bioethics in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. He is former chair of the Bioethics Committee at Northeast Regional Medical Center. Dr. Schneider is co-founder of the Still Caring Health Connection, a free clinic in Kirksville, Missouri. Dr. Schneider has served on healthcare mission trips in Africa, Central America and Cuba. He graduated from Lindenwood College (now Lindenwood University) with a major in psychology. He completed training at the St. Louis University’s Physician Assistant Program and subsequent practice. Later, he attended the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and subsequently completed a family medicine residency with Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Quincy, Illinois. He completed a health policy fellowship with the American Osteopathic Association. He has practiced in rural America, in New Zealand and at A.T. Still University in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has been married for 45 years and enjoys spending time with his seven grandchildren.
Dr. Robertson is a Montana native, graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine (Montana WWAMI) in 1982. She did two years of General Surgery training at the University of Colorado from 1982-1984 and has since been in General Practice in rural north central Montana. She has been interested in the work of rural EMTs and emergency care since becoming an EMT in Montana during the 1970’s. Austere environments (detention facilities, missions, orphanages, under trees) and international medicine (Australia, Angola, Brazil, Nepal, Tanzania) are of importance in her medical endeavors. Teaching medical concepts to non-medical persons has been a specific focus (diabetes for educators; medical care for detention facility staff). Dr. Robertson is a Trustee of the Montana Medical Association.
Dr. Dale Michels is a board-certified family physician retired after practicing in Lincoln, Nebraska for 44 years. He received his medical degree from University of Nebraska College of Medicine. He helped found Lincoln Family Medical Group in 1974 after graduating from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and interning at Bryan Hospital. He has been active in multiple medical and community organizations. He holds the record for being currently the longest practicing family physician in the community.
Kirk Bronander, MD, FACP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM). Dr. Bronander received his BS in exercise science at The University of Arizona in 1994 and his MD from The University of Arizona in 1998. He completed residency in internal medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in 2001. He has been a faculty hospital physician (hospitalist) since that time. He is the Clerkship Director for Internal Medicine, directs the Clinical Reasoning in Medicine course and is the Medical Director of Simulation for UNSOM.
Richard E. Johnson, MD, FACS, received his undergraduate degree from Wheaton College in Illinois and his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He spent two years as a physician with the USAF in Turkey. After completion of a surgical residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, he was employed as a staff surgeon at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Nashua division for more than 30 years. He has served on the New Hampshire Medical Malpractice Screening Panel and has done short-term medical trips to Central America and Africa. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the New England Surgical Society and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons.
Karl Benzio, MD, is a husband of 30 years, father of three girls, board certified psychiatrist, writer, frequent media guest expert and speaker covering many behavioral health and social policy issues. He has testified for U.S. Congress, state legislatures and the President’s Bioethics Committee, and he has taught in Iraq, Kenya and Uganda. He has a BSE in biomedical engineering with focus in Central Nervous System imaging from Duke University and a medical degree from Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School. He also completed a psychiatric residency at UC–Irvine. His expertise is integrating brain physiology, psychological and spiritual principles into decision-making sciences with its endless application to every facet of psychological health and functioning for individuals, families, communities and our society.
Dr. James Weidner has spent his entire life living in southern New Jersey. He received his BA in biology in 1988 from Franklin and Marshall College and his MD in 1992 from Temple University School of Medicine, and then he went on to complete his residency in pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Since 1995, he has been in private practice at Advocare Cornerstone Pediatrics in Haddonfield, New Jersey. He is a member of the American College of Pediatricians. He finds great joy in being involved in the teaching and music ministries of his local church, as well as leading group mission trips to Guatemala.
Gregg Schmedes, M.D. is an otolaryngologist on faculty at the University of New Mexico. After completion of residency at the Medical University of South Carolina, he spent 2 years teaching with the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons at Mbingo Baptist Hospital in Cameroon. He earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the University of Texas-Austin and attended medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Ronald F. Halbrooks, MD, is board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. After finishing his internal medicine residency, he worked in Ethiopia for two years in a drought/famine as the Medical Relief Coordinator in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Mission Board to feed more than 600,000 people each month. Upon returning to the U.S., he moved to North Carolina and worked for 10 years with an internal medicine practice of the Duke Health Systems. During that time, he also worked with the North Carolina Baptist Men to develop dental and medical buses for rural poor healthcare. Continuing in service, he, his wife and four daughters moved to work in China in several large urban hospitals for six years. They then returned to work at Duke for several years and continued work in China from the United States, developing more rural prevention buses for diabetic, HTN and cholesterol assessment for the rural poor, refugees and immigrant groups. Dr. Halbrooks works with a North Carolina clinic serving the poor, immigrant and refugee communities. Dr. Halbrooks will also complete his master's degree in ethics.
Steven Klein, MD, is a cardiac electrophysiologist in Greensboro, North Carolina. He graduated from Harvard College in 1979 and Harvard Medical School in 1983. He completed a medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of North Carolina and fellowship training in cardiology and electrophysiology at Barnes Hospital, Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He has been involved with medical missions, most recently serving with Medical Education International in the Balkans. He has been intentionally engaged in Greensboro in conversations of racial reconciliation for more than 15 years. He is working on a master’s program in bioethics.
Dr. Daniel Scrimshaw, DO, is a board-certified emergency physician in Minot, North Dakota. He completed his undergraduate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University Honors College and earned his Doctor of Osteopathy from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Scrimshaw completed residency in emergency medicine at Western Michigan University. During residency, he was appointed Clinical Instructor of Emergency Medicine and attained a specialty track in Simulation and Medical Education providing instruction for medical students and residents. He currently serves as a clinical instructor of emergency medicine, teaching residents and medical students from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dr. Lovita Scrimshaw, DO, is a board-certified emergency physician in Minot, North Dakota. She completed her undergraduate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and earned her Doctor of Osteopathy from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her emergency medicine residency at Western Michigan University. During residency, she was appointed Clinical Instructor of Emergency Medicine where she provided teaching for medical students and residents. Having a special interest in laceration repair and wound management, she serves as an author of the Wound Closure chapter in Roberts and Hedges’ Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care. She currently serves as a clinical instructor of emergency medicine, teaching residents and medical students from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dr. Elizabeth (Lizzy) McIntosh is a board-certified family medicine physician. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Taiwanese immigrants and graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering. She received a joint MD/MPH from The State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University in 2017 and then completed residency at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. She currently works full time for Licking Memorial Family Practice in Johnstown, Ohio, where she lives with her husband and their three children. She is active within the American Academy of Family Physicians, Ohio Academy of Family Physicians, and Ohio State Medical Association.
Dr. David Wilson is the founder of The Reversal Clinic, which has the nation’s largest experience in microsurgical vasovasostomy. In 2005, he decided to stop all provider agreements with insurance companies and government entities which paid for elective abortions. As a result, four months later, he had to close the doors of his 10-year general surgery practice. He advocates for the abolition of abortion. He is board certified in surgery and in internal medicine, having graduated from the University of Kansas Medical School in 1984 and completed internal medicine residency at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City in 1987 and general surgery residency at the Yale affiliated St. Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, Connecticut in 1992. He is a husband of 36 years to Fran, father of four and currently grandfather of four more.
Cheyn Onarecker, MD, is a graduate of Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. He completed his family medicine training at Carswell Air Force Base and is the Program Director of St. Anthony Family Medicine Residency in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He and two colleagues started the residency in 1991. Dr. Onarecker obtained a master of arts in bioethics from Trinity International University and teaches clinical ethics as an adjunct professor at Trinity. He is also Co-Chair of the St. Anthony Hospital ethics committee, where he helps to develop and review hospital policies and perform clinical ethics consultations. Dr. Onarecker and his wife Sarah live in Edmond, Oklahoma, where they spend much of their free time keeping up with six children and 12 grandchildren.
Dr. Brick Lantz graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Human Biology in 1981, he followed that with medical school at the University of Oklahoma and orthopedic residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. After residency, Dr. Lantz pursued two sports medicine fellowships -- the 1st at the Orthopedic & Fracture clinic with Slocum Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in 1989 and a 2nd at the Australia Institute of Musculoskeletal Research, where he trained under one of the world's most foremost experts, Drs. Merv Cross & Leo Pinzceski. Locally, Lantz has been the Board President of the Slocum Research & Education Foundation for more than 20 years. Dr. Lantz is a dedicated humanitarian, coordinating or participating in trips to disaster zones and impoverished regions internationally to offer free surgical orthopedic care to those most in need, on nearly every continent. Dr. Lantz has been a surgeon at the Slocum Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, since 1990, and is currently a senior partner with that Center.
Eric Hussar, MD, is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Marietta, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine in 2002 and completed a residency at Lancaster General Hospital. He has enjoyed caring for patients ranging from pre-birth to 100 years for more than two decades and is the Pennsylvania State Director of the American Academy of Medical Ethics. He relishes outdoor activities and athletics with his wife and six children.
Tiffany Schatz, MD, FACS, is board certified in thoracic and general surgery by the American Board of Surgery. She attended The Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel, where she studied medicine and cross-cultural medical care, with an emphasis on international and resource poor settings. She completed residency in general surgery at Waterbury Hospital, affiliated with Yale University School of Medicine. She then trained in minimally invasive thoracic surgery, including robotic surgery, at Fox Chase Cancer Center, affiliated with Temple University. Dr. Schatz now runs a solo private practice focused on advanced minimally invasive approaches for general and thoracic surgery in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.
Richard S. McCain, MD, graduated with an undergraduate degree in biology in 1974 before receiving his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1978. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana before completing a residency in orthopedic surgery in Charleston, South Carolina. He opened McCain Orthopaedic Center in 1986, where he still practices today. He is a member of multiple professional organizations including South Carolina Medical Association, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and American Medical Association.
Dr. Chetta is a board certified Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon at the Ohio State University. He received his B.S. in Biology from Pensacola Christian College and his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. Having seen first-hand the healthcare disparities particularly in the arena of global surgery, he became interested in reconstructive surgery. He received his plastic surgery residency training at the University of Michigan and subspecialty fellowship training in reconstructive microsurgery at Stanford University. He has remained active in global surgery studying various educational implications as well as participating as visiting faculty and establishing training courses at several international training sites. He is currently pursuing advanced training in Bioethics from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity at Trinity University.
Dr. Bosch has been practicing comprehensive ophthalmology for more than 25 years, initially in Iowa and then Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the last 15 years. Currently, he is an assistant clinical professor with the Sanford USD School of Medicine. Dr. Bosch received his BA in biology from Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa and then an MD from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 1994 and has been certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. For 15 years he has been going to the Dominican Republic to perform eye surgery.
Henry Williams, M.D., F.A.C.P., M.A. (ethics) received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University Medical School and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He served as a general medical officer for the Indian Health Service, Navajo Reservation in Shiprock New Mexico. He has practiced general internal medicine at Chattanooga Internal Medicine Group from 1979 to the present time. He received a Masters in Bioethics from Trinity International University in 2005 and has taught bioethics in Minsk, Belarus. In addition, he has provided medical care in Zambia, Haiti (Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti), Nicaragua, Honduras and Ethiopia. He is the Board Chair for the Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture where he has contributed a book review on the series of essays, Human Flourishing in an Age of Gene Editing (Parens and Johnston, eds., 2019, Oxford University Press).
Dr. J. Michael Fite is an obstetrician/gynecologist and has delivered over 7,000 babies. He graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston where he received the Titus Harris Medical Student Research Award. He completed his OB/Gyn residency at Tarrant County Hospital District, John Peter Smith and Harris Hospital where he was the Chief Resident. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Linda W. Flower, M.D. has practiced Family Medicine for 28 years. She has trained residents in Family Medicine Residency Programs at Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and UTMB Galveston (Conroe Family Practice Residency Program). She is currently serving at the TOMAGWA Ministries Medical Clinic which cares for low income patients in Tomball, Texas. She is chairwoman of the Executive Committee of Texas Physicians Resource Council and has been a member of the Christian Medical Association since 1973. She is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida.
Dr. Matt Porter is a graduate of the UT Health San Antonio Medical School (1993) and the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Family Medicine Residency. Dr. Porter is board certified in family medicine and hospice/palliative care medicine and has practiced in Waco, Texas for 26 years. He has taught medical students and graduate physicians, and he currently serves as a clinical preceptor for physician assistant and nurse practitioner students. Internationally, he has served on numerous healthcare mission trips, disaster relief trips to Indonesia (tsunami) and Haiti (earthquake) and taught hospice to physicians in Macedonia. Dr. Porter is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Brian Zehnder, MD, is a family physician from Magna, Utah, having served this community since 1992. Previous President of the Utah Academy of Family Physicians, he is the current Utah Director for the American Academy of Medical Ethics and Medical Director for Exodus Healthcare Network, whose mission is to encourage and give hope in the lives of others.
Thomas Walton Eppes, Jr., MD, is a native Virginian who graduated from William and Mary in 1974. He graduated from University of Virginia Medical School in 1978 and then joined a family practice in Forest, Virginia in 1981. He still continues to work at this practice today, which has grown to a group of nine physicians with three urgent care centers, a diagnostic center and an increasing affiliation with Liberty University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was the founding physician of a local free clinic in the 1980s, in addition to serving as the team physician for the local high school. His practice also actively teaches medical students from three schools. He served as president of the Medical Society of Virginia in 2008-2009, and he is currently chair of the American Medical Association’s Integrated Physician Practice Section.
Nathan Rowe, APRN, PMHNP-BC, is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. He is also a board-certified emergency nurse who currently resides in southwest Virginia. Prior to working in psychiatry, Nathan worked for more than 10 years as a critical care paramedic in a high-volume EMS system in Charleston, West Virginia. Additionally, Nathan worked for 13 years in emergency and critical care as a registered nurse from small critical access hospitals to fast-paced high-volume level one trauma/stroke/cardiac centers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. Nathan’s experience in psychiatry consists of a busy regional 60+ bed inpatient acute and intensive psychiatric care hospital with additional consultation-liaison and on-call responsibilities for ER and acute care inpatient populations. He also has extensive outpatient experience with patients ranging from age five to end of life. Nathan has been an advocate for the ethical treatment of patients since he was diagnosed with cancer as a teen. Nathan and his wife Rebecca, who is a registered nurse, have an adult daughter who lives with her husband in West Virginia.
Dean Bartholomew, MD, FAAFP, is a board-certified family physician practicing in a direct primary care clinic in Powell, Wyoming. He attended medical school at the Creighton University School of Medicine and completed family medicine residency training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Offutt Air Force Base. After serving in the United States Air Force, he returned to his hometown of Saratoga, Wyoming, as owner/physician of a rural health clinic for eight years. Dr. Bartholomew is active in healthcare advocacy, recently having served as President of the Wyoming Medical Society and President of the Wyoming Academy of Family Physicians.