You are entering a profession with multiple challenges and opportunities. From day one, you can join CMF, a movement of like-minded students, to grow in faith, speak for Jesus and serve others.

CONNECT

'when you come together... let all things be done for building up' (1 Corinthians 14:26)

CMF is here to unite Christian doctors, nurses and medical students. Members can meet with local Christian medics and nurses for advice and support. Beyond your university or city, you can also connect through regional and national events.

Being able to sit with friends, look at the Bible and ask 'how does this connect with what my lecturer said an hour ago... how can we work through the fog of the worldview we were being taught'.

Matt, CMF student member, Newcastle

Further afield, our outreach trips to Eastern Europe or Central Asia, as well as your elective, give you the chance to meet students from other countries. CMF is also linked to many similar organisations around the world through the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA), who organise European and World Congresses every four years.

Most local groups have their own Facebook group. Monthly e-newsletters are also sent out with brief updates of what's going on.

Knowing I am part of something bigger than just at my medical school is a real encouragement to me when I sometimes feel like I'm on my own.

Sarah, CMF student member

As we face increasing pressure to compromise our faith, it becomes more important for us to be part of a fellowship that can equip and encourage us in the good times and the bad.

GROW

'grow up in every way... into Christ' (Ephesians 4:15)

CMF also exists to equip Christian doctors, nurses and students. We want you to grow in faith and see God move powerfully through you.

But how do we grow? The mainstay of CMF is local group meetings centred around the Bible, often with the input of graduates. Every group differs,

but most do things you won't get at CU or church

— perhaps a course like The Human Journey, or studies on medical ethics. Our publications include Triple Helix, CMF Files (a series of ethical papers), and Nucleus (specifically for students). Back issues are online, along with multimedia resources such as conference talks. We also publish books sold both in the UK and overseas.

CMF's publications and resources really help me to grow as a Christian medic, not just a Christian and a medic separately.

Ella, CMF student member

National and regional conferences offer Bible teaching and seminars focus on aspects of life as a Christian medical or nursing student. Our summer opportunities provide in-depth teaching on a range of issues. Our Deep:ER Fellowship training programme helps you to integrate your faith and medicine - why not consider it if you intercalate?

SPEAK

'whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God' (1 Peter 4:11)

I find this the most daunting part. Daniel was ready to speak in the midst of an empire hostile to God. He didn't hide his faith, though his colleagues wished he would.

We want to equip you to be confident in speaking about your faith. Our day conferences (Saline Solution, Confident Christianity and Answering Other Faiths) seek to do this. I found these courses paradigm-shifting and so worthwhile when I was a student.

Saline looks at evidence that faith is beneficial for health and how we as doctors and medical students can approach issues of faith with patients.

Andrew, Saline Solution attendee

SERVE

'as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another' (1 Peter 4:10)

All this connecting and growing… what's it for? It's so that we can more effectively serve Christ and his kingdom!

Whilst in many membership organisations 'what I get' is paramount, CMF offers an opportunity to serve others.

By simply being a member, you add strength to our voice. Your subscriptions and gifts help pay for the work of CMF. More importantly, by being informed of what's happening, you are better able to pray. And as a member you will be better equipped to do the work.

You could lead your local group, write for Nucleus, do an elective in the developing

world, go on a summer team, or encourage your church to engage in issues where faith and healthcare meet.

CMF makes us look outside of ourselves, linking us up to people we can serve well and also benefit from knowing.

Liz, CMF student member

I don't think we should ever be just receivers, passive members — we are all called to be in it together.

Ella, CMF student member

so what?

I'm not concerned about building a CMF 'kingdom'. But I am convinced that standing together is the way forward, and that CMF allows us to do that, both as students and beyond.

Student membership is open to all medical and nursing students studying in the UK or Ireland who are in agreement with the membership declaration, which states:

• I wish to join the Christian Medical Fellowship
• I am in sympathy with the aims of the Christian Medical Fellowship
• I declare my faith in God the Father, in God the Son — the Lord Jesus Christ who is my Saviour — and in God the Holy Spirit
• I accept the Bible as the supreme authority in matters of faith and conduct

Have I convinced you? If so, why not visit www.cmf.org.uk/join and join today — a scandalously cheap £6 per year (that's 1.64 pence per day!) thereafter for your student years. As members you get a £15 discount on student conference — the maths works. ?

I want to be a Christian doctor in the future. Not just a Christian who happens to be a doctor, or a doctor who happens to be a Christian. And that is so exciting, because that is what I am going to be spending most of my life doing.

Chris, CMF student member, London

John Greenall is CMF National Field Director and a paediatrician in Bedfordshire