Beyond the Bleep 2001 - Wisdom Which Works
Liz Croton reports on the CMF Juniors’ National Conference at Hothorpe Hall on 7-9 September.
The annual CMF junior doctors’ conference has now reached the grand old age of five and continues to attract doctors from all over the UK and worldwide with the promise of great fellowship, expository Bible teaching and an opportunity to throw away that bleep - at least for the weekend! This year around 100 delegates from all over Europe attended.
In keeping with the computer age in which we live, the weekend was titled WWW (Wisdom Which Works) with the main Bible talks taken from the book of Proverbs. The main speaker was Professor Alan Johnson, chairman of ICMDA and Professor of Surgery in Sheffield. Over the three days, he expounded godly wisdom in three highly illuminating talks entitled, ‘wisdom with money’, ‘wisdom in relationships’ and ‘wisdom with words’.
Proverbs is one of those Old Testament gems that most of us can quote from if pushed but requires serious time and commitment to assimilate fully. It offers us, however, a fascinating and sobering insight as to how God’s people should conduct themselves in their dealings with others. In the highly charged medical environment in which we live and work, it is all too easy to follow the crowd and perhaps even abandon our Master’s call to be ‘salt and light’ in our darkened world. Professor Johnson took us right back to the beginning and illustrated why the wise person should speak truly, avoid gossip, guard against the accumulation of possessions and maintain fidelity in human relationships. It was hard teaching but highly relevant to each of us in our personal walks with God.
The main talks were backed up with small fellowship groups where issues raised were prayed through and the practical implications of living the ‘proverbian way’ were discussed. In the style of the student conference, Beyond the Bleep also ran six topical seminars from which delegates could pick and choose. They ranged from old favourites such as ‘Working worldwide’ to ‘Priorities in decision making’ led by new CMF Chairman (woman!) Liz Walker.
As with previous Beyond the bleeps, the itinerary included some regular activities that no self-respecting CMF junior doctors’ conference should be without. These included the return of the infamous ‘Degeneration game’ on the Saturday night and the equally entertaining and highly original Junior Doctors’ Committee opening sketch, illustrating the events leading up to and around the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
I will end with an open invitation to those of you doctors three years or less post-graduation to next year’s Beyond the Bleep which I’m sure on the scale of things promises to be even better. It really is a breath of fresh air when compared with hardcore medical life and well worth rearranging your rota for. A fabulous opportunity to get back on-line with God again!
CMF Autumn Conferences
The autumn conference season is now well underway and you should already have received publicity for conferences in your region. Weekend regional conferences include Northern Irish (5-7 October), Northern (19-21 October), South-Eastern (9-11 November) and Scottish (16-18 November). There will be day conferences in the Midlands (3 November), Oxford (10 November) and Porthcawl (17 November).
Conference on Morning-After Pill - Wednesday 28 November
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is the innovative title of a conference organised by the Centre for Bioethics and Public Policy (CBPP) on the ethical and public health implications of the morning-after pill. The meeting will be chaired by Dr Peter Saunders, General Secretary of CMF, and main speakers include Dr Graham Barker from Schering Health Care Limited and Dr Trevor Stammers, Tutor in General Practice at St George’s Medical School. Venue is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 1 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 (east of Lambeth Bridge). Further details from CBPP, 51 Romney Street, London SW1P 3RF. Tel 020 7227 4706. info@cbpp.ac.uk.
