Campus & Community Ministries

Who Are We?

CMDA Student Life is a network of campus chapters helping students live out the character of Christ on their campuses. We now have more than 300 campus ministries, representing 90 percent of the nation's medical and dental schools. We are here to help you THRIVE with a purpose during your healthcare training. To learn more about CMDA and our history, please visit www.cmda.org/about.

CONNECT

Unite with other Christian students on healthcare campuses across the country for fellowship, support and more:

Find a CMDA chapter near you
Fellowship with local Bible study groups
Connect with fellow healthcare students on your campus

GROW

Cultivate your faith through resources that will help you live out your faith authentically on campus and in practice:

Student Pulse Podcast
Online Resource Portal
CMDA App

LEAD

Discover a wide variety of tools designed to help you develop as an emerging leader while in school including:

Tips on how to lead a campus chapter
National leadership opportunities
Campus leadership training tools and webinars

Use your God-given skills to meet the needs of others around the world and share the gospel through missions:

Short-term mission trips with GHO
Domestic and international rotations
Scholarship opportunities for mission trips

Regional Communities

Our ministries come to their most important focus at the community level where healthcare professionals, residents and students live out the person of Christ. Through our local ministry groups, we bring the healthcare community of Christ followers together to connect for discipleship outreach through local and international ministries and personal accountability.

Are you interested in connecting with other CMDA members in your region? There are many local CMDA ministry groups located throughout each of our regions. These local groups give you the opportunity to fellowship and serve with other CMDA members as you seek to live out the character of Christ in your practice and community. Contact your Regional Director to learn more about how to connect with other CMDA members in your local area or click here to view CMDA local ministry webpages.

Northeast Region

Northeast Regional Director

Tom Grosh, DMin, MAR, MA, BS

Cell: 609-502-2078
Office: 423-844-1092
Fax: 423-844-1090

Support Tom's Ministry

Tom's Biography

After a decade of serving current and future healthcare professionals as a CMDA afﬁliate staff at the Penn State College of Medicine's Christian Medical Society (CMS) / CMDA, the Lord ignited in Tom Grosh IV a passion to devote his next season of ministry to transforming lives with the Gospel through healthcare. Prior to becoming the CMDA Northeast Regional Director Tom ministered through CMDA as the Area Director of South Central PA. Tom brings to CMDA over 20 years of experience with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA, most recently as the Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network where his responsibilities included conferencing, digital ministries, fund development, networking, and resource development. Tom has a B.S. in Biology (Grove City College), a M.A. in Higher Education (Geneva College), a M.A.R. in Spiritual Formation (Evangelical Seminary), a Certiﬁcate in Spiritual Direction (Evangelical Seminary), and a Doctor of Ministry in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary). He is licensed in the Brethren in Christ Church, U.S. Tom and his wife Theresa grew up in Lancaster County, PA where they now reside with two of their four daughters as their oldest two are now living on their own.

The Northeast Region includes:


Connecticut	Massachusetts	Rhode Island
District of Columbia	New Hampshire	Vermont
Delaware	New Jersey	Virginia
Maine	New York	West Virginia
Maryland	Pennsylvania

Southern Region

The Southern Region includes:


Alabama	Mississippi	Tennessee
Arkansas	North Carolina	Texas
Florida	Oklahoma	The Caribbean
Georgia	Puerto Rico
Louisiana	South Carolina

Southern Regional Director

Grant Hewitt, MDiv

Office/Cell: 402-677-3252

Support Grant's Ministry

Grant's Biography

Grant has been with CMDA since 2017. In the early 2000s, at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) he met his wife Kelsi, earned a B.S. in Exercise Science, but most importantly, was brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 21. Up until that point, his goal was to attend physical therapy school, but after his conversion he instead accepted an invitation at his church to be a pastoral intern for 2 years. The next eight years were spent teaching at, and directing 3 medically-supervised diet and exercise programs in Omaha, NE. But again, God had other plans. After reading Jim Elliot's biography, The Shadow of the Almighty, he decided to redirect his priorities and entire life. In early 2014, following much prayer and heart searching, he along with his pregnant wife, decided to sell their newly purchased "dream home", quit his career, and move their three little children (4, 3, and 1, at the time) to Kentucky to attend Southern Seminary in Louisville. 3 years later, by the grace of God, he found CMDA.

Midwest Region

Midwest Regional Director

Connor Ham, MA

419-789-3933
Midwest CMDA
Cincinnati, Ohio

Support Midwest Region Ministry

Connor's Biography

Connor Ham grew up in Defiance, Ohio and after giving his life to Christ at age 15, he discerned a call to ministry. He started a Bible study group in his public high school and was also involved with his area’s Youth for Christ chapter and helped to organize several gospel “crusades” in 2013 and 2014. Following graduation, he attended Moody Bible Institute and graduated with his BA in Biblical Languages (i.e. Hebrew and Greek) in 2018. While at Moody, he was involved with on-campus men’s ministries and was appointed to the executive committee for men’s ministries during his senior year.

He continued with his studies by working on his Master of Arts in Theology and Religious Studies at KU Leuven in Belgium, which he completed in the summer of 2020. He then moved back to Ohio and began his PhD work in Cincinnati in August of 2020 at Hebrew Union College, studying ancient Christian and Jewish literature.

Along with his PhD studies, Connor has been involved with young adult ministry at Kenwood Baptist Church and also ministered as CMDA associate staff in Cincinnati.

In January 2022, Connor began as CMDA’s Midwest Associate Regional Director and in January 2023 he succeeded Allan Harmer as Midwest Regional Director.

The Midwest Region includes:


Illinois	Michigan	Ohio
Indiana	Minnesota	South Dakota
Iowa	Missouri	Wisconsin
Kansas	Nebraska
Kentucky	North Dakota

Western Region

The Western Region includes:


Alaska	Idaho	Utah
Arizona	Montana	Washington
California	Nevada	Wyoming
Colorado	New Mexico
Hawaii	Oregon

Western Regional Director

Wes Ehrhart, MA

(916) 716-7826
Sacramento, California

Support Western Region Ministry

Wes's Biography

Wes Ehrhart, MA, is married to Sherry with a son and twin daughters (all college age). Between his family experiences and many years in pastoral and parachurch ministry roles, including his last role as an Executive Dean for two regional graduate school locations of Western Seminary, Wes brings a deep well of experience to the Western Region of CMDA.

National Leadership Opportunities

Like the men of Israel's tribe of Issachar, who understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take (1 Chronicles 12.32, NLT), students have a unique sense of the challenges, concerns, and needs that they and fellow students have as they start their professional journey. Student input is very helpful as CMDA continues to shape its ministry to help students face those challenges and respond to opportunities as Christ-followers on campuses across the country. In response to student requests we have expanded opportunities for more student involvement on the national level. Please review the opportunities below and prayerfully consider how God might be leading YOU to serve on the national level with CMDA!

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE

CMDA representatives serve an important role in the governance and guidance of our ministry. Representatives share the vision, purpose and opportunities of CMDA to its members and share the concerns, challenges and testimonies of its members back to the leadership of CMDA. A CMDA student representative is one of four students - one from each region - committed to attending two sessions of the House of Representatives held before the annual national convention, communicating CMDA information to the student members of his/her region between meetings and participating as member of the National Student Community leadership team. All travel, room and board expenses are covered by CMDA.

Student Representative Application

STUDENT TRUSTEE

The responsibility of the CMDA Board of Trustees is to lead the organization toward the desired performance and ensure that it occurs. The board's specific contributions are unique to its trusteeship role and necessary for proper governance and management. A student trustee candidate must be at least a second year student and participation in the National Student Community is desired. The Student Trustee serves a one-year term in which he/she attends three board meetings per year at CMDA's expense and important related meetings by phone. The student trustee participates on a different committee during each meeting and is expected to make a serious commitment to participate actively in committee work. Also, the student trustee is automatically a member of the NSC leadership team. This is an amazing opportunity to experience CMDA leadership at the highest level and bring your unique experience as a student and giftedness as a follower of Christ to the discussion about how we can best join God in what He is doing in the lives of healthcare professionals across the country.

Student Trustee Application

More leadership opportunities

Leading Your Campus Chapter

"...Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:26b-27, ESV).

Leadership seems to be a prickly subject among students due to concerns about seeming arrogant or not feeling adequate. However, God has placed you at your healthcare training institution - medical, dental, podiatric, allied health, etc. - for a PURPOSE. It is by no accident. God put you where you are, not just simply to "receive" all the opportunities before you, but also to step out in front and lead in such a way that reveals your total dependence on God and humbly point to Jesus as the reason for where you are.

Your campus chapter is an amazing opportunity to serve the entire community of your healthcare training institution. As a huge part of the Christian community on campus, your chapter can help the whole campus community grow closer to Christ. As a leader in your chapter, your role is to help the group join God in what He is doing on your campus. To this end, we are committed to helping you determine the purpose of your group and helping you see that purpose realized over the course of the academic year.

Please explore these resources designed to help you become a student leader and help you lead your campus chapter. Please contact your regional director for more information or to discuss your particular campus situation.

Welcome Kit Request

Student Leader Selection & Transition Process

Student Leadership Application

Campus Chapter Constitution

Chapter Financial Guidelines

Additional CCM Resources

Leading on Purpose

Leadership requires careful thought, reflection and preparation. Just as God has a purpose for you at your respective healthcare training institution, He also has a purpose for your campus chapter. It is important to take time with your team to ask meaningful questions-Why are we here? What needs do we see? What is God up to?-to help your group see how you can join God in what He is doing on your campus.

Once you've decided what your purpose is for a group, you can plan events, activities and opportunities based on that vision. We also recommend writing your purpose out and sharing it with the entire group to help keep it in mind throughout the year.

Welcoming New Students

Welcoming incoming first year healthcare training students is essential to helping them connect with your campus chapter and introduce them to the Christian community on campus. Meeting them as early as possible will help you build a relationship with them before studies get overwhelming. Hopefully most you've met who are interested in Christian community will continue to participate, but if some stop due to academic pressures, there's a good chance they'll return (start coming) to the group if you've made a strong enough connection at the beginning of the year.

To make this strong connection and a good first impression, we encourage all campus chapters to display at their school's campus activities fair and to follow that closely with an exciting welcome event, like a BBQ or party. The fair gives you a chance to share about your group and its purpose and plans for the year, while the welcome event allows for time to begin making friends with first years. The Campus Welcome Kit is designed to help you promote your chapter at your school.

This kit has a mixture of materials created specifically to help you encourage your fellow classmates to get involved and help your campus chapter THRIVE with a purpose throughout the year.

New Welcome Kits are available mid-June.

WELCOME KIT REQUEST

Selecting Your Leadership

Leadership for campus ministry can be very transitory at healthcare professional training institutions. It's exciting when clinical year students can continue to help lead the local group, but for most campus chapters, the leadership team changes every year! Whether your team leads for the calendar year-January to December-or the academic year-August/September to March/April-it is extremely important for you as the current leadership team to be on the lookout for new leaders as soon as school starts and be prepared for leadership transition whether it be in winter or spring.

To help you prepare for transitioning to your new leadership team, please review the Student Leader Selection & Transition Process. These guidelines will take you from identifying potential leaders to selecting your new leadership team. The process includes a new leader application that asks meaningful questions of potential campus chapter leaders. Every new leader needs to be a CMDA member and needs to complete the Student Leadership Application to make sure they understand the expectations of being a CMDA student leader. This is an important process, so please feel free to ask questions and seek counsel from your ministry shepherd (staff person), campus advisor and/or regional director.

Staying Connected

We encourage each of our campus chapters to have a unique sense of their purpose on their respective campus. Knowing the big picture of who you are and why your chapter exists is essential to meaningful ministry on campus. In the same way, we want all campus groups and their participants to be aware of the big picture of CMDA ministry across the U.S. We are committed to helping you and everyone who participates in your campus ministry to do what God has called you to do right now at your healthcare professional training institution, during residency and any fellowships, as you begin practice and even into retirement. From the "womb to tomb" professionally, we want to be by your side to help you grow in your calling as a Christian healthcare professional and stay connected with the body of Christ within healthcare. CMDA does not have to end after your last Bible study or campus event; we encourage you to stay connected throughout your professional life. Here are some ways to help you and your campus chapter stay connected with CMDA:

- Encourage all campus chapter participants to become a CMDA member.
- Participate in local, regional and national conferences.
- Share pictures and stories about what's going on at your campus with Campus & Community Ministries.

Starting a New Campus Chapter

We are committed to raising up the next generation of Christian healthcare professionals. To do that we encourage the growth of the Christian community on healthcare training campuses through student-led campus chapters, supported by ministry staff and local healthcare professionals. Each chapter is committed to help students grow in their faith, reach out to their campus community with the love of Christ and learn how to integrate the Christian faith within healthcare. The connectedness of this Christian community on campus is the starting point for a lifelong connection with the only ministry to healthcare professionals committed to helping you stay connected to the body of Christ in healthcare, helping you do what God has called you to do throughout your professional life and beyond.

If you are at a new school without a CMDA campus chapter, please use the information below to begin the process of creating a new group at your school. If you are part of a Christian fellowship that is not currently part of the CMDA network, please prayerfully consider becoming a CMDA campus chapter today to be part of this national community of Christian healthcare professionals.

To start a new CMDA Chapter, please complete the Campus Chapter Constitution and also make sure each new leader is a member of CMDA and has completed a Student Leadership Application. Please return all completed forms to Campus & Community Ministries. The CMDA Bylaws are available for reference.

Resourcing Your Campus Advisor

"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you about the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7, ESV).

The Campus Advisor (CA) is an essential component of CMDA campus ministry. The CA serves primarily as an on-campus example of a Christ-following healthcare professional and is encouraged to be a regular presence at campus chapter activities. This enables the CA to be in relationship with chapter participants and to encourage leaders. This regular presence encourages students to touch base with him/her outside of official meetings for advice and encouragement and to hear more about what it means to be a Christian healthcare professional. Each campus chapter is expected to have at least one active CA, who is an attending or faculty member at their school. Healthcare professionals from the surrounding community are also encouraged to come alongside the local campus chapter. All CAs should complete the CMDA leadership commitment form and are encouraged to join CMDA if they are not current members.

Campus Advisor Resource Website

Raising Support for Your Campus Chapter

Many of the activities your campus chapter engages in to join God in what He is doing at your school will have no financial cost at all-activities like prayer, worship, gathering for fellowship, etc., but what if God leads your group to include events and activities that need to be paid for in order for ministry to happen? CMDA encourages all campus chapters to be student organizations officially sanctioned by their respective school's administration if at all possible. Official status usually entitles the group a share of their school's activity funds, which may be requested for and applied to ministry activities on campus.

An additional step is to contact your CMDA Regional Director (contact information is on this page) for ideas on how to connect with local CMDA members to share your vision for reaching your campus and asking them to partner with you for ongoing activities or special events. Asking chapter participants to talk to their local churches about partnering with your group is another viable option.

Finding Speakers

If inviting outside speakers to address your group is part of your campus plan, CMDA wants to help you secure appropriate speakers to speak to the needs of your campus chapter. We have a robust list of national speakers who are able to speak on a variety of topics and can be geared towards outreach events designed for the whole campus community or events focused on encouraging, inspiring or training a primarily Christian audience. Your regional director can also help you connect with local Christian healthcare professional to speak at regular or special outreach meetings.

As you connect with potential speakers, we highly recommend sending out a series of possible topics so that they will have a choice and will be more likely to agree to speak. For your local speakers, we encourage you to ask them to share about their relationship with Christ and how they have been able to integrate faith and the practice of healthcare.

CMDA does have a Speaker's Bureau of CMDA members who are available to speak on a variety of topics and issues.