• 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.
    • "It was profound to be in a setting with others who share Catholic values and teaching. Professional work can be isolating in the secular setting. The presence of the Holy Spirit was palpable. Thank you! God bless!"
    • - 2018 Converging Roads attendee
 

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT

Ticket Options:
  • Physician/Physician Assistant/Psychologist: $149
  • Nurse/Nurse Practitioner: $129
  • General Admission*: $79
  • (Other health care professionals and non-health care professionals)
  • Medical resident, clergy, or religious*: $69
  • Student Scholarship Rate**: $15
  • (Medical, and nursing, graduate, and undergraduate students)
 
  • *Not eligible for CME/CNE credits, however, Social Worker/Chaplain certificates of completion can be requested upon registration for continuing education purposes.
  • **Not eligible for CME/CNE credits.
Exhibitor Opportunities:
At this time, exhibitor registration has been closed. Please see above for other ticket options.

TOPICS

  • Brain Death and Organ Donation
  • Sr. Terese Auer, OP, PhD
  •  
  • Stem Cell Research & Use of Cell Lines Derived from Aborted Fetuses in Research
  • Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco, OP, PhD, STD
  •  
  • Spiritual Warfare & Dissociative Identity Disorder
  • Cynthia Hunt, MD
  •  
  • Post-Abortive Healing & Reversal of Chemical Abortions
  • George Delgado, MD; Cynthia Hunt, MD; Rev. Vito Perrone, COSJ
  •  
  • Physician, Heal Thyself
  • Cynthia Hunt, MD
  •  
  • The Dignity of the Person and the Common Good
  • John Meinert, PhD
  •  
  • End of Life Issues at Life’s Beginning
  • Robin Pierucci, MD, MA
  •  

SCHEDULE

 
7:30 AM
 Check-In/Registration Begins
8:15 AM
 Opening Remarks
8:25 - 9:25 AM
 Dignity of the Person and the Common Good
9:30 - 10:30 AM
 Stem Cell Research and the Use of Cell Lines Derived from Aborted Fetuses in Research
10:30 - 10:45 AM
 Break
10:45 - 11:15 AM
 Spiritual Warfare and Dissociative Identity Disorder
11:30 AM - 12:10 PM
 MASS
12:15 - 12:55 PM
 Hippocratic Oath Luncheon
1:05 - 2:05 PM
 Brain Death and Organ Donation
2:10 - 2:30 PM
 Break
2:30 - 3:30 PM
 Post-Abortive Healing and Reversal of Chemical Abortions
3:30 - 3:40 PM
 Break
3:40 - 4:40 PM
 End of Life Issues at Life's Beginning
4:45 - 5:15 PM
 Physician, Heal Thyself
5:15 PM
 Closing Remarks
5:20 - 6:00 PM
 Wine & Cheese Networking Reception
 

Speakers

ROLAND MILLARE, STD
Vice President of Curriculum and Director of Clergy Initiatives

Dr. Roland Millare, a native Houstonian, serves as Vice President of Curriculum and Director of Clergy Initiatives for the St. John Paul II Foundation (Houston, TX). Dr. Millare served as a member of the Theology Department at St. John XXIII College Preparatory (Katy, TX) for over 15 years. He received a BA in Theology from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. He has a MA in Theological Studies (with a concentration in Moral Theology) from the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College (Alexandria, VA) and a Licentiate (STL) and Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) in Dogmatic Theology (with a specialization in Sacramental Theology) from the University of St. Mary of the Lake (Mundelein, IL). Dr. Millare also serves as an adjunct professor of theology for permanent deacon candidates, seminarians, undergraduate and graduate students at the University of St. Thomas, St. Mary’s Seminary, the Diocese of Fort Worth and the University of Dallas. He has published various theological articles for Logos, Antiphon, New Blackfriars, Nova et Vetera, and the Heythrop Journal. He has published the book, A Living Sacrifice: Liturgy and Eschatology in Joseph Ratzinger (Emmaus Academic, 2022). Dr. Millare has also contributed an article to a forthcoming lexicon on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger (Ignatius Press). Dr. Millare is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Academy of Catholic Theology, and the Society for Catholic Liturgy. Dr. Millare lives with his beautiful wife Veronica and their three children.

SISTER TERESE AUER, OP, PhD
Chair of Bioethics, Saint John Paul the Great High School

Sister Terese Auer, O.P., Ph.D. is the head of the bioethics department and a teacher at Saint John Paul the Great High School in Potomac Shores, Virginia.  She is a board member of Human Life International. Sister Terese received her B.A. Degree in English from Silver Lake College, Manitowoc, WI, and her Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX. Sister Terese has taught at the high school and college levels for about 40 years.  She has also written two textbooks for high school students: The Human Person ~ Dignity Beyond Compare and Called to Happiness ~ Guiding Ethical Principles.

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.

REV. NICANOR PIER GIORGIO AUSTRIACO, OP, PHD, STD,
Professor of Biology and Professor of Theology, Providence College, USA,
and Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Sacred Theology, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines

Rev. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., completed his Bachelor’s Degree (B.S.E.) in Bioengineering, summacum laude, at the University of Pennsylvania, and then earned his Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T. in the laboratory of Professor Leonard Guarente, where he was a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He was ordained a priest in the Order of Preachers in May of 2004. He completed his Pontifical License in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) in Moral Theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, in 2005, and a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, in 2015. Fr. Austriaco currently serves as Professor of Biology and of Theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. He is also a research fellow at the Center for Religious Studies and Ethics at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines. His NIH-funded laboratory at Providence College (www.austriacolab.com) is investigating the genetics of programmed cell death using the yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans, as model organisms. His first book, Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, was published by the Catholic University of America Press in 2011. It was recognized as a 2012 Choice outstanding academic title by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

JOHN MEINERT, PhD
Assistant Professor of Theology, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University

John Meinert, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Theology at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University where he teaches Moral Theology, Catholic Social Thought, Bioethics, and Spirituality. He holds a B.A. in Theology from Benedictine College, an M.A. in Theology from the University of Dallas, and a Ph.D. in Moral Theology/Ethics from The Catholic University of America. He has two published books and numerous scholarly and popular articles concerning Moral Theology, St. Thomas Aquinas, Grace, and Spirituality. He is currently a member of the Louisiana State Board of Ethics (appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards), the founder and director of FranU’s bioethics lecture series, and a member of multiple theological organizations (ACT, SCE, and CTSA).

CYNTHIA HUNT, MD
Psychiatrist and Chair of Catholic Medical Association National Opioid Task Force

Dr. Cynthia Hunt is a graduate of Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and Board Certified practitioner in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry, which includes a year of fellowship training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  She currently maintains an active practice at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, where she is the Chief of the Department of Psychiatry.   She is also an Adjunct Faculty Member of St. Patrick’s Archdiocesan Seminary in Menlo Park, CA . She has been privileged to serve the Catholic Church over the last 12 years in the Exorcism and Deliverance ministry as psychiatric consultant to priests, exorcists and Bishops and is on the Advisory Board for the Pope Leo XIII Institute.   She has been invited to give presentations on this topic in many settings including Priest/ Clergy Days,  Deaconate Training, National Meetings of the Catholic Medical Association  and the Catholic Psychotherapy Association as well as  conferences with laity and SCRC. Dr. Hunt  has also worked within  the Catholic Medical Association for many years and has served as President of the Fresno Guild,   member of the FIRE Committee, and as a speaker for CMA national and local conferences.   She is currently a CMA Board Member and is Chair of the national CMA Opioid Task Force,  meeting with Health and Human Services in Washington, DC.   Recently she participated in  representing  North America at an International Meeting on Addictions at the Vatican through the Dicastery of Integral Human Development. An accomplished pianist, Lay Carmelite,  and member of the Board of the Foundation of Prayer for Priests,  she has been blessed with her husband of 27 years and their three children.

SPONSORS

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Accreditation
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) and St. John Paul II Foundation. Christian Medical & Dental Associations is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physician Credit
The Christian Medical & Dental Associations designates this educational activity for a maximum of 6 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistant
AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ by an organization accredited by the ACCME or a recognized state medical society. Physician assistants may receive up to 6 credits for completing this activity.

Nurse Practitioner
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME. Individuals are responsible for checking with the AANPCP for further guidelines.
Nurse practitioners may receive up to 6 credits for completing this activity.

Nursing
This educational activity has been approved by the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA), an accredited approver by the American Nurses
Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (OBN-001-91). 6 contact hours approved.

Objectives:
– Define death and the “dead donor rule.”
– Discuss the importance of the “dead donor rule.”.
– Identify criteria for determining death and clinical signs that a patient has died.
– Discuss philosophical, medical and ethical considerations surrounding organ donation following diagnosis of death using neurological criteria.
– Differentiate between Adult Stem Cell Research and Embryonic Stem Cell Research.
– Identify the advantages and disadvantages of Adult Stem Cell Research versus Embryonic Stem Cell Research.
– Discuss the ethics considerations in evaluating the means of attaining stem cell research and treatments.
– Discuss Dissociative Identity Disorder and other mental health diagnoses.
– Discuss the DSM 5 reference to a state of possession.
– Discuss interviewing skills regarding pertinent historical and collateral information in the evaluations of persons with symptoms of dissociation including a spiritual history.
– Discuss Comorbid diagnoses of PTSD, Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and Substance Use Disorder.
– Identify symptoms of physician burnout at it is described today
– Describe the signs of Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD in the context of physician burnout.
– Study statistics and incidence of physician suicide and potential etiologies and hopeful prevention.
– Discuss the basis for the sanctity of human life.
– Describe how the human person images God.
– Define what it means to speak of the dignity of the person and how this dignity impacts medical care.
– Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical issues associated with the care of neonatal and fetal patients.
– Describe how the ethical issues associated with the care of neonatal and fetal patients may differ from the same kind of care at
other stages of life.
– Identify best practices for communicating diagnoses with parents and caregivers and how to best offer support to families.
– Identify the impact of abortion on the health of women as discussed in the medical literature.
– List the medical and psychological effects of “medical” abortion.
– Study clinical interventions that can help secure positive outcomes for patients after a medical abortion.

Psychology
The Christian Medical & Dental Associations designates this educational activity for a maximum of 6 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. The California Board of Psychology recognizes and accepts for continuing education credit AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™  from organizations accredited by the ACCME. Individuals are responsible for checking with the CBP for further guidelines.

Chaplains
The National Association of Catholic Chaplains has approved this program for 6.0 Continuing Education Hours. Please be sure to select the General Admission or Clergy/Religious (if applicable) ticket option and request a certificate of completion on your registration form. For questions, please email sara@forlifeandfamily.org.

Venue

St. Patrick's Seminary

320 Middlefield Rd
Menlo Park, CA 94025

For More Information:
Sara Dietz, 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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