• 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 NOW 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 12, as well as additional access to the recordings (from noon CT on Sunday, April 13, to 11:59 pm CT on Wednesday, April 16).
 
  • 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 a supporting sponsor, 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 the discounted rate above through the Dr. Mini Vettical Scholarship. 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 are interested in providing a scholarship for a student to attend Converging Roads, you can do so at the time of registration or by clicking here.

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 28. All refund requests made on or after March 29 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

  • Catholic Social Doctrine and Its Implications for Health Care 
  • James O. Breen, MD
  •  
  • Human Dignity and the Informed Consent Model in Health Care: Implications for Treating Gender Identity Discordance
  • Rev. Robert Gahl, PhD
  •  
  • Responsibilities and Challenges in Providing Health Care to the Poor or Undocumented
  • James O. Breen, MD; John Butler, MD; and Mary T. Neal, MD
  •  
  •  
  • Saint Giuseppi Moscati: A Model Physician for the Poor
  • Thomas M. Carroll II, MD, PhD
  •  
  • Subsidiarity and Health Care Reform
  • Cliff Porter, MD, PhD
  •  
  • Collaboration and Cooperation with Non-Catholic Partners
  • Faculty TBA
  •  
  •  

SCHEDULE

7:30 AM 
Check-In Begins
8:00 AM
  • Mass
9:15 AM
Opening Remarks
9:25 - 10:25 AM
Catholic Social Doctrine and Its Implications for Health Care
10:25 AM
Break
10:35 - 11:35 AM
Human Dignity and the Informed Consent Model in Health Care: Implications for Treating Gender Identity Discordance
11:35 AM
Break
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Responsibilities and Challenges in Providing Health Care to the Poor or Undocumented
12:45 - 2:20 PM
Hippocratic Oath Luncheon
1:15 - 2:15 PM
Saint Giuseppi Moscati: A Model Physician for the Poor
2:20 PM
Break
2:40 - 3:40 PM
Subsidiarity and Health Care Reform
3:40 PM
Break
3:50 - 4:50 PM
Collaboration and Cooperation with Non-Catholic Partners
5:00 - 5:45 PM
Wine & Cheese Reception

Speakers

SUSIE SAENZ
Chief of Staff and Vice President, St. John Paul II Foundation

Susie Saenz is Chief of Staff and Vice President at the St. John Paul II Foundation where she is responsible for providing counsel to the President, managing the Office of the President, promoting overall operational efficiency for the Foundation across departments, and representing the Office of the President. Susie earned her BS in Kinesiology from Texas A&M University and, prior to joining the St. John Paul II Foundation in 2017, worked at Baylor College of Medicine in the philanthropy and alumni relations office. She and her husband, Victor, along with their son, are parishioners at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Houston and enjoy gathering with friends over a meal, wine, and lively conversation. Susie has benefited greatly from the mission of the St. John Paul II Foundation during her time as a team member and continues to be grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to use her gifts and talents to enrich the lives touched by this apostolate.

THOMAS M CARROLL II, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center

Dr. Thomas Carroll is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester, husband, and father of four. He received his M.D. and PhD from the University of Connecticut and then completed his internal medicine training at the University of Rochester where he subsequently served as Chief Resident and completed the fellowship program in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Carroll practices both general internal medicine and palliative care in the office and hospital settings. He also directs the Advanced Communication Training (ACT) Program (https://act-ur.com/), which seeks to improve patient care by supporting communication excellence among individual clinicians and clinical teams. His interests include communication training, medical education at all stages of training, bioethics, and moral theology.

CLIFF PORTER, MD, PhD
Managing Partner and Founder of Texas Direct Medical Care

Dr. Cliff Porter is the managing partner and founder of Texas Direct Medical Care.  He is board certified in Family Medicine with the experience to provide highest level of personal medical care for our guests. Prior to opening Texas Direct Medical Care, Dr. Porter was medical director for several urgent care clinics in Travis County.  Before settling permanently in Austin, Dr. Porter was an Army physician stationed at Ft. Hood, practicing full-service family medicine, taking care of all ages of active duty soldiers and their families, including retirees in primary care, hospital admissions, emergency medicine, intensive care, as well as obstetrics, delivering babies in the middle of the night. Dr. Porter is a Colonel (Retired) from the US Army and served with 1st Armored Division, deployed to Iraq in 2011, and served in both the Army Reserve and Texas Army National Guard as the senior flight physician for aviation (36th Combat Aviation Brigade). Dr. Porter has joined the growing physicians adopting the Direct Primary Care model, revolutionizing primary care.  Our model allows us to provide the best personal care for all of our guests.

JAMES O. BREEN, MD
Associate Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, Florida State University; Founder and Owner, Benedict Medicine

James O. Breen, MD graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and received his internship and residency training in Family Medicine at Brown University. He completed a fellowship in faculty development at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and is a Diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He has practiced family medicine in a range of practice types including community health centers, multispecialty groups and academic practices, where he has served at the rank of Associate Clinical Professor in Family Medicine at both the University of North Carolina and Florida State University. He has spoken nationally at conferences for the Catholic Medical Association and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and his writings have appeared in publications including the New England Journal of Medicine, Linacre Quarterly, Crisis Magazine and The Catholic Thing. Dr. Breen recently opened Benedict Medicine, a Christ-centered, independent primary care practice that integrates contemporary medical knowledge within a context that sees each person as made in the image and likeness of God. His interest in the application of Catholic social teaching to medical care has led him to form the Benedict Medicine Consortium, a voluntary association of primary care physicians whose practices are built upon Catholic principles. He is a member of the Southwest Florida Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and lives with his family in Fort Myers, Florida. He is in the process of completing the Certificate in Health Care Ethics Program from the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

REV. EDUARDO RIVERA, CSB
Chaplain, University of St. Thomas – Houston

Fr. Eduardo Rivera, CSB is a priest of the Congregation of St. Basil (Basilian Fathers). He is the chaplain of the University of St. Thomas, and Director of Scholastics for the Basilian Fathers. Fr. Rivera is an alumnus of the University of St. Thomas and native of Houston.

REV. ROBERT GAHL
Associate Professor of Church Management Director of Church Management Programs – Catholic University of America

Fr. Robert Gahl, PhD is Associate Professor of Practice in the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America and Director of the Church Management Program, including the Master in Ecclesiastical Administration and Management (MEAM). He is also Associate Professor of Ethics in the School of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Santa Croce) in Rome where he was Director of the Program of Church Management (2017-2022). A native of Milwaukee Wisconsin, he completed his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and worked in Silicon Valley with robotic software for electron beam lithography systems (1985-1987). After completing his Licentiate in philosophy at the University of Navarre (Pamplona, Spain, 1989) and his Doctorate in Rome at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (1991), he did postdoctoral research at the University of Notre Dame (1993) and was ordained to the diaconate by Blessed Alvaro del Portillo and to the priesthood by St. John Paul II (1992). Fr. Gahl has published on the narrative structure of the moral life, cognitive behavioral therapy, corporate social behavior, and the social doctrine of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. In 2018-2019, as Visiting Faculty Research Affiliate at Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, he taught courses at Harvard and MIT. He has directed courses on institutional mission at leading health care and medical research centers and on virtuous leadership for Italy’s Center for Advanced Defense Studies (IASD). His current research focuses on intergenerational human flourishing. He recently published “The Challenge of Self-Mastery in the Future of Work” for the Business and Professional Ethics Journal (2022) and has offered analysis regarding issues of ethics and Church affairs for numerous media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, CNN, CBS, BBC, the Associated Press, Relevant Radio and Vatican Radio. In addition to Italy and the USA, he has lectured in the Vatican, UK, Spain, Kenya, Ireland, Malta, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Ethiopia, and Poland.

JOHN BUTLER, MD
Legacy Community Health Montrose Clinic Adult Infectious Disease Physician

Dr. John Butler is an infectious disease physician in Houston, TX and has over 30 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston McGovern Medical School in 1993. He is currently medical director at Casa Juan Diego clinic since 2017 and in practice at Legacy Healthcare as a HIV specialist.

SPONSORS

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Chaplains
The National Association of Catholic Chaplains has approved this program for 6.25 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.


Social Workers and Counselors
If you are seeking Social Worker or Counselor continuing education credits, we can provide you with a certificate which states that you completed  hours.  Please select the General Admission ticket option and request a certificate of completion on your registration form. For questions, please email Conference Coordinator Gabby Anglin at [email protected]

Venue

University of St. Thomas

4000 Mt Vernon St
Houston, TX 77006

For More Information:
Gabby Anglin, Conference Coordinator
309.397.5436
[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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