Introduction
The Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship (CMDF) Singapore is a sectional group of the Graduates' Christian Fellowship (GCF). Started in 1966, it is an inter-denominational, evangelical fellowship of Christian doctors and dentists. It seeks to bring together Christian medical and dental professionals for fellowship and mutual encouragement, sharpening each other in our faith and walk, and optimising our professional gifts and resources for His glory.
Theme Verse
"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
Vision and Mission
We exist to serve the local fraternity of Christian medical and dental professionals to be all that God has designed and called us to be, generally as a unified evangelical Christian body; and specifically for each in our individual callings and roles. This is a ministry by Christian doctors and dental surgeons for Christian doctors and dental surgeons.
Aims
- To encourage members in the Christian faith
- To be a witness to Christ amongst our colleagues
- To support Christian students in the medical faculty
- To spread the gospel throughout the world and support missions
Ministry Focus
The focus and ministry of CMDF are in the following areas:
Missions
Working alongside mission agencies to send forth our doctors to the mission field for both long-term ministries and short-term mission trips. Serving as a channel of medical support for other missionaries. Locally, supporting St Luke's Hospital in finance and expertise.
Mercy Ministries
Sending forth our doctors for humanitarian missions, working alongside various relief organisations such as Crisis Relief Network and Singapore Red Cross.
Marketplace
Developing strategies that help integrate faith and practice, and equipping health professionals to reach their spheres of influence for Christ.
Medical and Dental Students
Nurturing medical and dental students for discipleship and witness on campus. Facilitating medical electives with mission hospitals and mission organisations.
Mentoring
Mutual encouragement and sharpening, both peer-to-peer and between seniors and juniors. One such forum has been the Meet the Housemen sessions, where senior Christian doctors reassure and encourage fresh graduates just before they embark on the Housemanship.
Medical Ethics
Acting as a national voice for Christian ethics in healthcare policy. Organising seminars to address issues that pose challenges to Christian witness in the profession, such as Psychiatry and the Occult, In-Vitro Fertilisation, and Cost of Medical Care.
Brief History
The roots of the CMDF can be found in the formation of the Varsity Christian Fellowship (VCF) in 1952 by a group of final-year medical students, in the then University of Malaya in Singapore. This began mainly as an evangelical response to the liberal theology prevalent at the time, which openly discounted the Bible to be the Word of God. The VCF eventually led to the formation of the GCF in 1955. It sought to bring into Christian fellowship graduates from the VCF as well as other campuses both locally and abroad.
As the number of doctors grew in the GCF, some members felt a need to have a grouping as a medical fellowship within the GCF. The reasoning was that there should be an identifiable group of Christian doctors to be a witness to colleagues, patients and the community. It sought to encourage members growth in the faith, and the practice of the ideals of medicine, as exemplified by the Lord in His ministry to the sick. Christ came not be served but to serve and this was to be the ideal for the Christian doctor. At a meeting held in April 1966 at King Edward VII Hall, 15 doctors met together to set up a medical section of the GCF. Thus, the Christian Medical Fellowship was formed. It became a sectional group of the Graduates Christian Fellowship in June 1973. In 1980, a formal move made to include dental surgeons which resulted in the Fellowship being renamed the Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship.
A milestone for the CMDF was when it hosted the 5th International Congress of Christian Physicians (ICCP) in Singapore from 5 to 9 November 1975 with 700 delegates from 33 countries. At about that time, CMDF became a member of the ICCP, now known as the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA).
The challenge for CMDF members in nearly 50 years of our existence is different now from then. a retreat held in May 2013 called the CMDForward 2013 helped us re-examine our role as an organisation and purpose for the individual. we explored the involvement of the CMDF according tothe life-stage model from student to senior doctor, attempting to develop a biblical framework in the marketplace of medicine and dentistry.
Website : http://www.cmdf.org.sg