Dr. Martin Nkundeki: Journey Back to the Medical Front Line
In this M3 Conference Plenary Session, Martin R. Nkundeki, MBChB, MBA, Medical Director of Wentz Medical Center, an outreach of Africa Renewal Ministries, takes us on a journey of the birth and rebirth of Renewal Healthcare and its impact throughout Uganda. Dr. Nkundeki also shares about the work God did in and through his life in the process, and he encourages us that we can rest assured that God makes things beautiful in their time.
Dr. Martin Nkundeki joined Wentz Medical Center at its opening in 2005, and over the last 17 years, he has guided this non-profit mission clinic from donor dependence to 85% local revenue. Seeing up to 100 patients a day, the medical center broke ground for its $4.5 million expansion into a comprehensive community hospital in July 2023. To learn more about Dr. Nkundeki, click here. To learn more about Wentz Medical Center and its growing outreach programs, click here. To learn more about African Renewal Ministries and its programs and projects throughout Uganda, click here.
Peter Holz, RN: Answering the Call to Go
In this M3 Conference Plenary Session, Peter Holz, RN, a Technical Advisor/Medical Coordinator for Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), shares his journey to answering the call to go. He discusses how to practically listen to God’s voice and make the decision to respond to His calling, and then, preparing your heart, mind, and life for the transition.
Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) responds around the world to victims of war, poverty, famine, disease outbreaks, and natural disasters. As a member of DART, God uses each individual uniquely through their specific skillset and circumstances to save lives. Click here to learn more about Samaritan’s Purse DART program.
Dr. Matthew Dacso: Building Collaborations
In this M3 Conference Breakout Session, Matthew Dacso, MD, MSc, FACP, Director of Academic Partnership for the UTMB Center for Global and Community Health, discusses building collaborations between academic and faith-based organizations to strengthen health systems in an era of pandemics.
The past several decades have seen profound shifts in the global burden of disease, which has strained health systems and highlighted the need for investment in greater global collaboration. The recent global experience with COVID-19 has demonstrated the fundamental interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, and the need for an adaptive and responsive healthcare workforce. As we continue through an “era of pandemics,” academic and faith-based organizations have great potential to improve health for all by collaborating and enveloping deeper partnerships.
Dr. Matthew Dacso is the Chair ad interim of the Department of Global Health and Emerging Diseases and an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine. He also serves as Director of Academic Partnership for the UTMB Center for Global and Community Health and as the Director of the 4-year Global Health Scholarly Concentration in the John Sealy School of Medicine. He is a general internist and global health practitioner who has extensive field experience forming partnerships with institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean that are rooted in relationships, respect, and reciprocity. To learn more about Dr. Dacso and his work, click here.
Dr. Stephen J. Spann: Healing Relationships
In this M3 Conference Plenary Session, Stephen J. Spann, MD, MBA, Founding Dean of the University of Houston College of Medicine, reviews the scientific evidence on the power of compassionate relationships between healthcare professionals and their patients, in terms of better clinical outcomes, better patient satisfaction, lower costs of care, and lower healthcare professional burnout and greater joy. Jesus healed through relationships, and we are instruments of His healing through our relationships with others; this is the cornerstone of medical missions.
Dr. Stephen J. Spann is a family physician leader, educator, researcher, and the Founding Dean of the University of Houston College of Medicine. Dr. Spann has dedicated his career to improving health and health care around the world by training future health care professionals, contributing to the scientific knowledge base of primary care, leading medical school faculty, physician medical groups and hospital medical staffs, and striving to practice excellent, evidence-based family medicine.