• FOR LIFE AND FAMILY

About Converging Roads

Where Health Care Ethics and Medicine Converge
Converging Roads is a regional conference series offering continuing education for health care professionals that equips them to practice the highest ethical and medical standards of their profession. To learn more about Converging Roads, click here.
  • Feedback from past attendees of Converging Roads:
  • "I’m so glad I attended. It was so insightful and gave me more knowledge on how to study more about human dignity, disabled persons and the correct way to explain our duty to others (as health care providers to our patients)."
  • "It is edifying to be with so many people trying to live their faith in a field that constantly challenges the truth."
  • "Thus far in my (nascent) career, my Catholic and medical identities have unfortunately been largely separate. I’m confident that the knowledge I obtained at Converging Roads and my subsequent reflection will serve me well on my path towards becoming the Catholic physician I’m striving to be."

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION IS OPEN

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT

In-Person Ticket Options:
  • Physicians/Physician Assistants: $159
  • Nurses/Nurse Practitioners: $139
  • General Admission*: $85
  • Medical residents, clergy, or religious*: $75
  • Student Scholarship Rate**: $15
Online Ticket Options:
  • Online tickets include access to the livestream on Saturday, April 22, as well as additional access to the recordings (from noon CT on Sunday, April 23, to 11:59 pm CT on Wednesday, April 26).
 
  • Physicians/Physician Assistants: $129
  • Nurses/Nurse Practitioners: $109
  • General Admission*: $55
  • Medical residents, clergy, or religious*: $45
  • Student Scholarship Rate**: $0
 
  • *Not eligible for CME/CNE credits, however, Chaplain certificates of completion can be requested upon registration for continuing education purposes.
  • **Not eligible for CME/CNE credits.
Exhibitor Opportunities:
Includes 1 exhibitor booth and admission for 1 organizational representative
  • Ministry/Non-Profit (including CME/CNE credits): $180
  • Ministry/Non-Profit (not including CME/CNE credits)*: $105
  • Vendor/For-Profit (including CME/CNE credits): $230
  • Vendor/For-Profit (not including CME/CNE credits)*: $155
 
  • *Not eligible for CME/CNE credits, however, Chaplain certificates of completion can be requested upon registration for continuing education purposes.
Sponsors:
  • If you and/or your organization is interested in joining our mission as supporting sponsors, please click here for the Sponsorship Form. You can also submit the form online by clicking here.
  • For questions or more information, please contact the conference coordinator at [email protected].
Student Scholarships:
  • Undergraduate, graduate, nursing, and medical students are eligible to register for Converging Roads at our scholarship admission rate. If you are a student currently enrolled in classes and would like to attend the conference, please complete our student scholarship form prior to registering for the conference (click here). If you feel called to contribute to our scholarship fund, you can do so at the time of registration.
Refund Information:
    • If you are no longer able to attend the conference, after purchasing your ticket, you may choose to transfer your registration fees to a student in need, or request a refund.
    • All refunds must be requested 2 weeks prior to the conference. The last day to request a refund is Friday, April 14. All refund requests made on or after April 14 will not be accepted, but the funds will automatically be transferred to a student in need. Please email [email protected] to transfer your registration or request a refund.

TOPICS

  • Vocation of the Health Care Professional
    • Kristin M. Collier, MD, FACP
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  • Truth, Conscience, and the Religious Liberty of the Health Care Professional
    • Mary Rice Hasson, JD
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  • Application of the Principle of Double Effect
    • Kent Lasnoski, PhD
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  • First Diagnosis: “It’s a Baby!” – Navigating Treatment with Additional Prenatal Diagnoses
    • Robin Pierucci, MD, MA
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  • Clinical Care for Adults with Disabilities
    • Dana Hardin, MD
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  • Affirming the Dignity of Women in Medicine
    • Kristin M. Collier, MD, FACP; Mary Rice Hasson, JD; Dana Hardin, MD
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  • A Catholic Response to the Mental Health Crisis
    • Michael J. Redinger, MD, MA
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SCHEDULE

   
8:00 AM
 Mass
8:30 AM
 Check-In Begins
9:15 AM
 Opening Remarks
9:25 - 10:25 AM
 Truth, Conscience, and the Religious Liberty of the Health Care Professional
10:30 - 11:30 AM
 Application of the Principle of Double Effect 
11:45 - 12:45 PM
 Clinical Care for Adults with Disabilities 
12:45 PM - 2:25 PM
 Hippocratic Oath Luncheon
1:20 - 2:20 PM
 A Catholic Response to the Mental Health Crisis
2:45 -3:45 PM
 The Vocation of the Health Care Professional
3:45 - 4:45 PM
 Panel: Affirming the Dignity of Women in Medicine
5:00 - 6:00 PM
 First Diagnosis: "It's a Baby!" - Navigating Treatment with Additional Prenatal Diagnoses
6:00 - 6:45 PM
 Wine and Cheese Reception

Speakers

ROBIN L. PIERUCCI, MD MA
Neonatologist and Medical Director

Dr. Robin Pierucci is Jewish convert to Catholicism, a wife, mother of three, and a practicing neonatologist. She also has a master’s degree in bioethics as well as completing the National Catholic Bioethics Center ethics certificate course. In addition to her full-time clinical duties within the NICU, Dr. Pierucci remains active in perinatal palliative care, as well as leading ongoing performance improvement projects for drug exposed infants and their families.  She has multiple publications in peer and non-peer reviewed journals and has spoken around the country on multiple perinatal and ethical topics.  Additionally, Dr. Pierucci has appeared on a number of programs aired on EWTN including, Women of Grace, The Journey Home, EWTN Live, and her documentary about in vitro fertilization.  She has been a member of the Catholic Medical Association for many years and has recently became an associate scholar with the Charlotte Lozier Institute and a board member of the American College of Pediatrics.

KRISTIN M. COLLIER, MD, FACP
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion

Kristin Collier, MD, FACP is an associate professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Michigan where she serves as the director of the University of Michigan Medical School Program on Health, Spirituality and Religion.  She is also an associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Michigan where she oversees the primary care track. She received her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed her internship, residency and chief residency at The University of Michigan Hospitals. Her academic interests are in the overlap of spirituality, religion and medicine and her peer reviewed work has been published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the Annals of Internal Medicine, The Journal of General Internal Medicine, the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and she also has had writings published in Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal, Theopolis and America Magazine. She is also the proud mother of four boys.

MICHAEL REDINGER, MD, MA,
Co-Chair, Department of Medical Ethics, Humanities, and Law, Interim Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine

Michael Redinger, MD, MA.  Mike is an Associate Professor and is Co-Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics, Humanities and Law, and Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. He serves on the Boards of the Michigan State Medical Society and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Kalamazoo and as an Alternate Delegate to the American Medical Association. Dr. Redinger received his medical degree and master’s in bioethics and health policy from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Redinger’s research focuses on clinical ethics, Catholic healthcare ethics, psychiatric ethics, and professionalism in healthcare and has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and other leading journals in medicine, psychiatry, and medical ethics.

KENT LASNOSKI, PHD
Associate Professor of Theology and Assistant Dean, Wyoming Catholic College

Kent J. Lasnoski, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Theology and Assistant Dean at Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, WY. He is a member of the Academy of Catholic Theology and an editorial board member of the Journal of Moral Theology. Dr. Lasnoski received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Marquette University. Dr. Lasnoski has published a variety of articles in medical, biological, and sexual ethics, and is currently editing a collected edition on the ethics of frozen embryo adoption in the Catholic tradition with the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

MARY RICE HASSON, JD
Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., is the Kate O’Beirne Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where she co-founded and directs the Person and Identity Project, an initiative that equips parents and faith-based institutions to promote the truth about the human person and counter gender ideology. An attorney and policy expert, Mary has been a keynote speaker for the Holy See during the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, addressing education, women and work, caregiving, and gender ideology, and serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth. She speaks frequently at national conferences, universities, and in dioceses across the country, and has testified before the U.S. Senate, state legislatures, and the Australian parliament on parents’ rights and transgender issues. The co-author of several books on education, Mary’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, National Review, First Things, the National Catholic Register and Our Sunday Visitor, among others. In March 2023, Mary was the 2023 recipient of the Christifideles Laici award, presented at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School, Mary is married to Seamus Hasson. They are parents of seven grown children and grandparents of five.

DANA HARDIN, MD
Ohio Health

Dr .Dana Hardin did her original training and obtained Board Certification in General Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology and Nutrition. After practicing as a Pediatric Endocrinologist for 15 years she did a residency in Psychiatry and is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Adolescent and Young Adult Psychiatry. She joined Ohio Health as a Consult Liaison Psychiatrist in 2021. She has dedicated her career to caring for vulnerable patients through the lens of the Catholic faith.

Sponsors

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Accreditation Statement
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Ascension and Ascension Via Christi, Via Christi Foundation, St. Gianna Wichita Guild, Diocese of Wichita. Ascension is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 7.00 IPCE credit(s) for learning and change. 

Physician Credit Physician Assistant
Ascension designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 7.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits(s)™. Physicians should only claim the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistant
Ascension has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 7.00 AAPA Category 1 credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Nurse Practitioner and Nursing
This activity is awarded 7.00 ANCC contact hour(s). (Based on 60 minutes per contact hour)

Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Ascension is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Ascension maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 7.00 continuing education credits. 

Click here for full CME/CNE details

Chaplains

The National Association of Catholic Chaplains has approved this program for 7.25 Continuing Education Hours. Please select the General Admission or Clergy/Religious (if applicable) ticket option and request a certificate of completion on your registration form.

 

 

Venue

Newman University

3100 McCormick St
Wichita, KS 67213

For More Information:
Cameron Kelly, Conference Coordinator
832.779.1070
[email protected]

CONTACT US

  • PHONE

    832.779.1070

  • PHYSICAL ADDRESS

    1177 W Loop South, Ste. 940
    Houston, TX 77027

  • MAILING ADDRESS

    P.O. Box 5927
    Katy, TX 77491

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