As we approach the annual Matthew Bulfin Educational Conference (MBEC) in February, we look forward to welcoming returning and new medical and midwifery students and medical residents into the wide circle of life-affirming physicians, midwives, researchers, and other health care professionals present. AAPLOG sat down with students and residents to learn what MBEC meant to them, and their insights were inspiring.
For Mariah Shafer (MS4), it’s the community of MBEC that draws her back year after year. As a first-year medical student, Mariah began a pro-life group on her campus and felt she had gotten in “way over her head.” Upon hearing about the AAPLOG and MBEC that year, she immediately registered for the conference and has been coming ever since. Now a fourth-year resident at the Sanford School of Medicine in Vermillion, South Dakota, Shafer shared:
“Through the conference, I met so many incredible individuals who have walked this before, including other medical students who started pro-life student interest groups. I met these people, and I was reminded that I’m not crazy and that what we were doing mattered. That was everything to me.”
Dillon Stull, a third-year FM resident at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, and a two-time MBEC attendee, chose the word “friendship,” saying:
“One of the biggest fruits for me from the conference has been friendship. There were a number of medical students that I have stayed in touch with this past year that I met at the conference, and knowing that there is a community of other physicians who desire to practice according to the principles of life has been super encouraging for me as I continue my formation in family medicine.”
Inspiration and motivation have marked Julia Tenbusch’s MBEC experience. A third-year medical student at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, she shared, “I’ve just been so inspired by the other physicians I’ve met here. That’s something I want to continue to reflect as I pursue public health, preventive health, and global health. I see the way that every physician I’ve met has an excellent standard of medicine, an excellent standard of practice, and it’s paired with this beautiful testimony of how much they value their patients. That excellence in science and then that compassionate heart … that’s something I want to live up to, no matter what.”
Watch the full video of students and residents sharing how their experience at MBEC keeps them going to pursue life-affirming medicine.
If you are a student (including medical, nurse-midwifery, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant students) or a resident, apply for a scholarship today! Your future patients need you to register. MBEC is a lifeline, providing pro-life education and life-affirming professional relationships that you will need in the field. We continue to bring like-minded, life-affirming medical professionals together and strengthen the future of medicine with guidance, clinical knowledge, and courage.
Apply for the Joe DeCook Scholarship program today. The application deadline is January 24, 2027.
Not a student but invested in helping put the medical field back on the right path? Your generosity has helped us continue this program and accept more students. Please consider sponsoring a student or resident to attend MBEC. The Joe DeCook Scholarship program allows promising, pro-life medical students and residents who need financial assistance to attend the conference. A full scholarship is $3,000 – but even covering part of this cost is a huge help for the many trainees who want to attend! A scholarship covers the cost of conference fees ($1,000); meals ($750); travel ($500); and lodging ($500). Thank you for your support of our future physicians and medical professionals!
