• 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 previous Converging Roads:
  • "It is so helpful to be with other Catholic health professionals that are likeminded and facing similar challenges. It helps me to realize I am not alone and helps to strengthen my efforts to press forward standing up for our faith even against adversity. Thank you so much!"
  • "The conference appealed on spiritual, personal, and professional levels. A supportive and relational experience, this conference came at a much needed point in my career."
  • "We recieved timely, practical information from a Natural Law perspective, along with solid teachings from the Catholic faith and skills in interacting with patients. Very worth my time!"

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CONFERENCE, CONTACT

In-Person Ticket Options:
  • Physicians/Physician Assistants: $149
  • Nurses/Nurse Practitioners: $129
  • General Admission*: $79
  • Medical residents, clergy, or religious*: $69
  • Student Scholarship Rate**: $15
Online Ticket Options:
  • Online tickets include access to the livestream on Saturday, April 2, 2022, as well as additional access to the recordings from noon CT on Sunday, April 3, to 11:59 pm CT on Wednesday, April 6.
  • Physicians/Physician Assistants: $119
  • Nurses/Nurse Practitioners: $99
  • General Admission*: $49
  • Medical residents, clergy, or religious*: $39
  • 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): $170
  • Ministry/Non-Profit (not including CME/CNE credits)*: $100
  • Vendor/For-Profit (including CME/CNE credits): $220
  • Vendor/For-Profit (not including CME/CNE credits)*: $150
 
  • *Not eligible for CME/CNE credits, however, Chaplain certificates of completion can be requested upon registration for continuing education purposes.
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, March 25. All refund requests made on or after March 26 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

  • Understanding the Church’s Teaching on Sexuality and Fertility: The ‘Why’ Behind the ‘No’
  • Rev. Matthew Kauth, STD
  •  
  • The Gift of the Human Person: A Christian Anthropology for Understanding Gender and Sexuality
  • Theresa Farnan, PhD
  •  
  • Gender Identity Discordance: Supporting Patients and Families
  • Rev. Philip G. Bochanski, MDiv, MA
  •  
  • Integrating Catholic Directives to Your Practice: The Role of Faith Within Medicine
  • E. Kelly Anderson, MD; Stephen Blaha, MD; and Lewis Lipscomb, MD
  •  
  • The Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign
  • Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA, FAAP
  •  
  • Medical and Surgical Interventions for Fertility
  • Gavin Puthoff, MD
  •  
  • Artificial Reproductive Technologies and Medical Effects of Contraception
  • Marguerite Duane, MD, MHA, FAAP; and Gavin Puthoff, MD
  •  

SCHEDULE

8:00 AM
 White Mass Check-In/Registration Opens
9:15 AM
 Opening Remarks
9:25 - 10:20 AM
 Understanding the Church's Teaching on Sexuality and Fertility: The 'Why' Behind the 'No'
10:25 - 11:25 AM
 The Gift of the Human Person: A Christian Anthropology for Understanding Gender and Sexuality
11:25 - 111:40 AM
 Break
11:40 AM - 12:40 PM
 Gender Identity Discordance: Supporting Patients and Families
12:40 - 2:15 PM
 Hippocratic Oath Luncheon
1:05 - 2:05 PM
 Integrating Catholic Directives to Your Practice: The Roles of Faith Within Medicine
2:10 - 2:30 PM
 Break
2:10 - 3:00 PM
 Sacrament of Reconciliation
2:30 - 3:30 PM
 The Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign
3:35 - 4:35 PM
 Medical and Surgical Interventions for Fertility
4:35 - 4:45 PM
 Break
4:35 - 5:45 PM
 Artificial Reproductive Technologies and Medical Effects of Contraception 
5:45 PM
 Closing Remarks
5:55 - 6:45 PM
 Wine and Cheese Reception
 

Speakers

REV. MATTHEW KAUTH
Rector, St. Joseph College Seminary

Father Matthew Kauth was born and raised in Peoria Illinois, where he attended Catholic grade school and high school. A trip to Italy changed his life forever when he witnessed an elderly woman kneeling on the rocks during outdoor Mass after their bus broke down. Her devotion destroyed his indifference to the Eucharist and the Church. He wanted to know what that woman saw in the Host and began searching. His search eventually led him to the priesthood. Fr. Kauth completed his studies in philosophy at St. Charles Borromeo in Philadelphia and transferred to the Diocese of Charlotte following graduation to assist in the missionary efforts faced with the burgeoning Catholic population. He completed his graduate work at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., earning his ecclesiastical degree (STB) and was ordained to the priesthood in 2000. After serving six years as a parochial vicar and pastor in the Diocese of Charlotte, he continued his studies in Rome and received a license and doctorate in Moral Theology. Fr. Kauth served as the Chaplain of Charlotte Catholic High School and a professor at Belmont Abbey College before he was appointed Rector of St. Joseph College Seminary in 2016. Fr. Kauth is the author of two books, "Charity as Divine and Human Friendship: A Metaphysical and Scriptural Explanation According to the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas" and "The Sacraments: Discovering the Treasure of Divine Life".

REV. PHILIP G. BOCHANSKI, MDiv, MA
Executive Director, Courage International

Father Philip G. Bochanski, MDiv, MA is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Executive Director of Courage International. He is a member of the Catholic Medical Association. Father Bochanski received the degrees of Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Theology from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Father Bochanski has more than twenty-two years’ experience in pastoral care, including parish, nursing home and hospital settings, as well as 11 years as chaplain for the Courage apostolate, which provides pastoral support for people who experience same-sex attractions and desire to live a chaste life. He is the author of numerous talks, articles and book chapters on pastoral care, including the chapter “Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying” in Catholic Witness in Health Care: Practicing Medicine in Truth and Love” (Travaline & Mitchell, eds., CUA Press, 2016).

MARGUERITE DUANE, MD, MHA, FAAFP
Co-Founder and Executive Director, FACTS

Dr. Marguerite Duane, a board-certified family physician, is co-founder and Executive Director of FACTS about Fertility, an organization dedicated to educating medical professionals and students about the scientific evidence supporting fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs). She also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgetown and Duquesne University. Dr. Duane cares for patients via a direct primary care house-calls based practice, MD for Life, and previously worked as medical director of the Catholic Charities community health centers in DC and Maryland. Dr. Duane currently serves as the CMA State Director for DC, and is the past president of the St. Giuseppe Moscatti DC CMA Guild. She has served on the board of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC). Dr. Duane trained as a Creighton, FEMM and NeoFertility Medical consultant, and a TeenSTAR educator. She received her M.D. degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed her Family Medicine residency at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania. She received a Bachelor of Science with Honors and a Master of Health Administration degree from Cornell University. In 2022, Dr. Duane completed a primary care research fellowship at the University of Utah earning a Master of Science in Public Health. Dr. Duane is married to fellow family physician, Dr. Kenneth Lin, and they are delighted to be the parents of 4 children, Isaac Thomas, Eden Rose, Ellis John and Gianna Marie Lin.

THERESA FARNAN, PhD
Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and Co-founder of Person and Identity Project

Theresa Farnan, Ph.D., is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center focusing on the challenges of gender ideology as part of EPPC’s Person and Identity Project. She is the co-author of two books, Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Child from Public School Before It’s Too Late and Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There? She has taught at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and has worked with the diaconate formation program for the Dioceses of Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. She served as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth and is a member of the Catholic Women’s Forum Advisory Council. She has lectured widely on gender ideology, Catholic education, theology of the body, the personalism of Pope John Paul II, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the vocation and dignity of women. She hosted St. Thomas Aquinas in Today’s World on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). She received her master’s degree and her doctorate in Medieval Studies from the University of Notre Dame. She and her husband, Michael, have ten children.

LEWIS D. LIPSCOMB, MD
Women’s & Children’s Institute Leader, Novant Health

Lewis D. Lipscomb, MD is a practicing Ob-Gyn, and physician leader of the Women’s and Children’s Institute at Novant Health. Dr. Lipscomb received his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University with a major in chemical engineering.  He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Wake Forest University.  He has practiced general obstetrics and gynecology in North Carolina since 2003, and has been a leader in advancement of minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery throughout his career. A convert to Catholicism in 2004, Dr. Lipscomb was challenged by the moral and ethical teachings of the Catholic Church and how they conflicted with the secular view of the role of Ob-Gyn in women’s health.  As a result, Dr. Lipscomb sought out formal training on fertility awareness and its applications in women’s health at the St. Paul VI Institute for Human Reproduction in 2010.  In 2012, he opened Novant Health Triad Obstetrics & Gynecology as North Carolina’s only purely pro-life, non-contraceptive Ob-Gyn practice at the time.  Since then, the practice has grown to 3 physicians, and 2 advanced practice providers. Over the past 3 ½ years, Dr. Lipscomb has since moved into leadership at Novant Health, now serving as physician leader over the Women’s and Children’s Institute at Novant Health.

GAVIN PUTHOFF, MD
Founder and Medical Director, Veritas Fertility & Surgery

Dr. Gavin Puthoff is the founder and medical director of Veritas Fertility & Surgery in St. Louis. He specializes in the treatment of infertility, recurrent miscarriage, endometriosis and other gynecologic conditions. He is trained in surgical NaProTECHNOLOGY, a form of advanced reproductive surgery. Dr. Puthoff earned his medical degree at the University of Texas at Houston and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in medical and surgical NaProTECHNOLOGY at the Saint Paul VI Institute and Creighton University Medical Center. Dr. Puthoff and his wife have six children.

STEPHEN J. BLAHA, MD, FACOG
Medical Director, Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN

Stephen Blaha, MD, FACOG.  Stephen is the medical director of Atrium Health Eastover OB/GYN and current Chief of Obstetrics at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center - Main here in Charlotte.  Dr. Blaha received his BS degree from St. Mary’s College of California and his MD from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.  He completed his specialty training in OB/GYN at Carolinas Medical Center.  He is active in medical student education and has a busy general OB/GYN practice while trying to adhere to Catholic moral teaching.

E. KELLY ANDERSON, MD
President and CEO, Anderson Family Medicine

E. Kelly Anderson, MD is the president and CEO of Anderson Family Medicine in Monroe, North Carolina. Dr. Anderson received her B.A. from Boston College and her M.D. from Yale School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center, and was an independent physician contractor before founding Anderson Family Medicine in 2006.

SPONSORS

CONTINUING EDUCATION

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

Physician Credit
The Christian Medical & Dental Associations designates this educational activity for a maximum of 7 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 7 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 7 credits for completing this activity.

Nursing

This educational activity has been approved by the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA), and accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (OBN-001- 91). 7 contact hours approved

Click here for full CME/CNE details

Chaplains
The National Association of Catholic Chaplains has approved this program for 6.75 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. For questions, please email [email protected]. 

 

Venue

The Cathedral of St. Patrick

1621 Dilworth Rd. E
Charlotte, NC 28203

For More Information:
Amelia Arth, Conference Coordinator
817.300.2173
[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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