Be Our Guest / Dr. Tina Reichley

Catholic Medical Association enriches faith, fellowship of health care professionals

My name is Tina Reichley. My husband Dan and I have been married 33 years and have raised four children in St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Richmond and its schools.

I am also a family physician in Richmond. I have worked in the inpatient and outpatient world of family medicine for the last 30 years—and I am excited to share that I have been named the new Indiana state director of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA).

The CMA is the best kept secret in the field of medicine. It is the largest association of Catholic physicians and health care professionals in the United States. It was established in the early 1900s to bring together Catholic physicians and other health care professionals to strengthen members’ faith, to promote fellowship and to support the Church.

I first heard about the CMA around 2013. I was searching for something to replenish my spirit in medicine. Dan was surfing the internet and found the CMA website. God works with perfection. During the last 12 years, I have met amazing physicians with values parallel to mine, professionals committed to justice and the dignity of life from conception to natural death.

The CMA has opportunities for fellowship, spiritual growth and education at its annual conference held in September, this year in Arizona.

Indiana is blessed with having some local guilds that provide local fellowship, education and opportunities to serve the Church and the public. These guilds can be a base for medical students and residents to find guidance and are essential for providing education, mutual support, service and witness across the United States. Guilds in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis include the St. Raphael Catholic Medical Guild of Indianapolis (president: Dr. Jason Kippenbrock) and the Southwest Indiana Catholic Medical Guild (president: Dr. Gary Keepes).

I believe one part of my job with the CMA is to connect medical professionals to spiritual growth, trusted resources and one another. We are blessed with extraordinary talent within our Catholic medical community both locally and nationally. We do not need to reinvent; we need to connect and allow God’s work to unfold.

If you are a medical professional, I invite you to consider becoming a member of the Catholic Medical Association, joining a local guild, attending Zoom guild meetings, attending the annual conference and/or attending the White Mass for medical professionals that will be held this year at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 30.

You will not be disappointed—there is a place for you. You can learn more at cathmed.org/membership.

We also invite anyone who feels called to support this mission to donate at cathmed.org. †