Side By Side is a ministry of CMDA for women who are married to medical and dental students, residents, fellows, as well as staff physicians and dentists.
What Do We Study?
Our groups begin meeting in August and meet each week through May. We typically dive into a book or scripture study each fall and spring "semester". Look below to find out studies we’ve done together!
August - December 2025, Thursday’s @ 7:00pm
Radically Whole by David Gibson
An Expository Journey through the Book of James Helps Christians Move from Double-Mindedness to Wholeness
Everyone longs for wholeness and honesty in their lives. In reality, people are often double-minded―pulled between good and evil―in their speech, actions, and character. These rifts can be spiritually and relationally devastating. So how does God heal a fractured heart?
This exploration of the New Testament book of James helps readers identify double-mindedness in their own lives and understand God’s grace as he “pulls apart the divided heart to make it whole.” Explaining James’s challenging epistle chapter by chapter, David Gibson helps readers embrace the painful yet profound process of redemption, defeat double-mindedness, and experience wholeness in every area of their lives.
January - May 2026, Thursday’s at 7pm
Waiting Isn’t a Waste, By Mark Vreogop
Throughout our lives, we experience countless periods of waiting. Some moments are mere nuisances―others are daunting seasons filled with intense worry and doubt. We grow impatient by immovable traffic or crave an impending answer to a medical condition. Whatever our current circumstances, our innate response is to take action rather than stay still.
In Waiting Isn’t a Waste, author Mark Vroegop calls believers to resist the human urge for control and lean on Christ for comfort while we wait for the uncertainties of life to unfold. Vroegop explores what it means to wait on God through 6 important characteristics―waiting is hard, common, biblical, slow, commanded, and relational. This book not only teaches readers how to wait on God but inspires them to embrace waiting―for it prompts wisdom from God and brings invaluable peace to the present.
August - December 2020, MONDAYS @ 7:00pm
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin
We all know it’s important to study God’s Word. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. What’s more, a lack of time, emotionally driven approaches, and past frustrations can erode our resolve to keep growing in our knowledge of Scripture. How can we, as Christian women, keep our focus and sustain our passion when reading the Bible? Offering a clear and concise plan to help women go deeper in their study of Scripture, this book will equip you to engage God’s Word in a way that trains your mind and transforms your heart.
March - June 2020 via zoom, mondays @ 7:30pm & Thursdays @ 7:30pm
None Like Him by Jen Wilkin
God is self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign, infinite, and incomprehensible.
We're not.
And that's a good thing.
Our limitations are by design. We were never meant to be God. But at the root of every sin is our rebellious desire to possess attributes that belong to God alone. Calling us to embrace our limits as a means of glorifying God's limitless power, Jen Wilkin invites us to celebrate the freedom that comes when we rest in letting God be God.
January - March 2020, Mondays @ 7:00pm & Fridays @ 9:30am
Podcast Study: Gospel in Life Marriage Series with Timothy Keller
august - december 2020, Fridays @ 9:30am
Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
In the overlooked moments and routines of our day, we can become aware of God's presence in surprising ways. How do we embrace the sacred in the ordinary and the ordinary in the sacred? Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices, and habits that form us. Each chapter looks at something―making the bed, brushing her teeth, losing her keys―that the author does every day. Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Tish Harrison Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday. Each activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship. Come and discover the holiness of your every day.
august - december 2020, Mondays @ 7:00pm
Identity Theft: Reclaiming the Truth of our Identity in Christ edited by Melissa Kruger
Who am I? It's a question we all ask ourselves at some point. Depending on the season we focus our identity on our job performance, marital status, personality type, or social network, among other options. However, there's a larger question to consider. Who does the Bible tell me I am in Christ?
From the wisdom and perspective of insightful authors-including Jen Wilkin, Hannah Anderson, and Jen Pollock Michel-we'll seek to answer this question by: Exposing our false notions of identity; Understanding the biblical truth of our identity in Christ; and Reflecting on what it looks like to live in our new (and true) identity. In 10 chapters we'll cover everything from our identity as children of God to citizens of heaven. At the end of each chapter, study questions will facilitate group discussion as you consider this glorious truth with your friends.
Join us as we explore how knowing who we are in Christ changes every aspect of our lives.
June - August 2019, Sundays @ 4:00pm
Newcomers Summer Study: After the Boxes Are Unpacked by Susan Miller
Who am I? It's a question we all ask ourselves at some point. Depending on the season we focus our identity on our job performance, marital status, personality type, or social network, among other options. However, there's a larger question to consider. Who does the Bible tell me I am in Christ?
January - May 2019, Fridays @ 9:30am
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
Between busy schedules and long days, expressing love can fall by the wayside. We forget to compliment, to give gifts 'just because,' to linger in our embrace. The things that say 'I love you' seem to either not get said or not get through. This is a book about saying it—and hearing it—clearly. No gimmicks. No psychoanalyzing. Just learning to express love in your spouse’s language.
The 5 Love Languages has transformed countless relationships. Its ideas are simple and conveyed with clarity and humor, making this book practical as it is personable. You’ll be inspired by real-life stories and encouraged by its commonsense approach. reading this book feels like taking a walk with a wise friend. Applying it will forever change your relationship—starting today.
January - May 2019, Mondays @ 7:00pm
Romans 1-7 For You an exposition by Timothy Keller
Join Dr Timothy Keller as he opens up the first half of the book of Romans, helping you to get to grips with its meaning and showing how it transforms our hearts and lives today.
August - December 2018, Fridays @ 9:30am
Triggers by Amber Lia & Wendy Speake
Join Dr Timothy Keller as he opens up the first half of the book of Romans, helping you to get to grips with its meaning and showing how it transforms our hearts and lives today.
August - December 2018, Mondays @ 7:00pm
Free of Me by Sharon Hodde Miller
Free of Me: Why Life Is Better When It’s Not About You
We live in a culture that's all about self, becoming the best "me" I can be instead of becoming like Jesus. This me-centered message affects every area of our lives--our friendships, our marriages, even our faith--and it breaks each one in different ways. The self-focused life robs our joy, shrinks our souls, and is the reason we never quite break free of insecurity.
In this book, Sharon Hodde Miller invites us into a bigger, Jesus-centered vision--one that restores our freedom and inspires us to live for more. She helps readers
- identify the secret source of insecurity
- understand how self-focus sabotages seven areas of our lives
- learn four practical steps for focusing on God and others
- experience freedom from the burden of self-focus
Anyone yearning for a purpose bigger than "project me" will cherish this paradigm-shifting message of true fulfillment.