ADVENTIST DOCTORS
SUPPORT NETWORK
Upcoming Event
A Conference for Seventh-day Adventist Medical Doctors and Students
Empowered For Service
SATURDAY 30 APRIL, 10AM
Why Attend this Virtual Conference?
Do you wish to learn how to share Christ at work or university as a medical doctor or student? Do you wish to meet like-minded professionals who have a passion for using their talents in service to others? Then register now to attend this much-anticipated inaugural conference
Conference Registration
You may register for the virtual conference using our dedicated page on Eventbrite. Once this is completed, you will receive the log-in information for the sessions and links to the live-streamed session. Register now to reserve your spot.
Our Conference Speakers
Founder Elsa Charles
Elsa Charles is a General Practitioner who completed her studies in the Netherlands. Known by her colleagues and friends as a traveling doctor she enjoys learning and experiencing new cultures and healthcare systems. She is multilingual and has experienced seven different healthcare systems thus far.
From a young age Elsa has been active in church as a Pathfinder, Sabbath School teacher, Youth leader, until recently; and with the Health Ministry Department.
In 2017 she qualified as a CHIP facilitator with the Lifestyle Medicine Institute in California and obtained the UK certification in 2020 with Compass Lifestyle Medicine. She has a passion for the health message and has an interest in lifestyle medicine and hopes to complete her degree in Lifestyle Medicine in the near future. Her motto is “A healthy doctor, a healthy patient.”
Elsa currently lives in the UK and is fully supported by her husband and her family who is the core of who she is.
The ADSN conference has been organised by Dr Elsa backed by a team consisting of Dr Nomsa Maphango, Dr Flora Kogera, Funmi Ogundiran, medical student and ADSN's chaplain Dr Kirk Thomas; along with others who have also been involved behind the scenes.
Let us UNITE, SUPPORT, NETWORK, EDUCATE, WITNESS and carry out MISSIONARY work in the UK as medical educators. Together we are stronger!
Dr Helgi Jónsson, MD | Main Speaker
Psychiatrist
TED Health Ministries Director 2019-2020
Helgi Jónsson MD is a specialist in psychiatry and runs a psychiatric clinic in Reykjavík, Iceland. He has also been involved in vocational rehabilitation and rehabilitation of fibromyalgia patients.
Helgi has been an active member of the SDA church for a long time and in the period of 2019-2020 he was the health ministries director of the Trans European Division of the SDA church.
Helgi is married to his wife Helga and together they have one son.
Dr Jacquie Halliday-Bell
Occupational Medicine Consultant.
Dr Jacquie Halliday-Bell is a member of Camp Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church. She is currently the Health ministries leader for the church and also works in Communications.
In the past she has served in Pathfinders, Youth Sabbath School and Family Ministries. She is a full-time consultant and Fellow in Occupational medicine and an out of hours general practitioner. She works as the regional specialty advisor for Occupational Medicine in the West Midlands. She’s married, has three children one of them is a fifth year medical student.
Dr Halliday Bell will be presenting the workshop "Student Life"
Dr Kirk Thomas, PhD
ADSN Chaplain (2020 - present)
Director for BUC Evangelism, Sabbath School, Personal Ministries, School of Evangelism, Mission and Leadership, Adventist Missions, Church Growth and Discipleship at the British Union Conference (BUC) of Seventh-day Adventists.
He is also the chaplain for the Adventist Doctors Support Network. When asked to be the chaplain he did not hesitate and has been supporting us through prayer, during the pandemic and empowering presentations at our end of year celebrations and other online meetings.
He is an ordained minister with over twenty-eight years of ministerial experience.
He lives to empower people and mentor them for the Kingdom of God. Thomas is married to Carol a radiographer, for over twenty-seven years and they have four fantastic children – Fonah, Tivonah, Daniel and Kassanah.
Dr Kirk Thomas will be presenting the workshop "Putting Faith Into Practice"
Dr Beatrice Kastrati, MBChB, MPH
Dr Beatrice has been in the UK since January 2020. She graduated from medical school at the university of Ulm in Germany in November 2006, completed her Master’s degree in Public Health with Loma Linda University in 2015, and is registered with the General Medical Council in the UK.
She followed her husband Julian into the mission field to Albania in 2007, where she lived and worked for almost 9 years; first as volunteer doctor in various ADRA projects and the Adventist Health Centre “My Family”; from 2010 onwards as ADRA Country Director, leading ADRA Albania with a firm health and education strategy until 2015. Following the birth of their daughter Albulena in 2015, Beatrice and Julian moved back to Ulm in Germany, where she worked as disability assessor until December 2019. When her husband Julian was called to serve as pastor in the UK, she followed him to Manchester and began work as disability assessor in February 2020. She was called as Health and Possibility Ministries Director in January 2021, and elected Community Service Director in September 2021, working fulltime as NEC departmental director.
She loves teaching science and biology and is amazed at Creation and Nature. Her passion and calling are health education and health evangelism, community programmes and inclusion of ALL into the diverse, caring and loving church family. She has witnessed first-hand how communities can be transformed and many people are led to Christ through health and possibility ministry and meaningful community engagement.
Dr Beatrice Kastrati will be presenting the workshop “Taking care of yourself first”
Mrs Sharon Platt-McDonald
MSC.HS, DipMS, BCS.HS, RHV, RM, C.A.C.D.P, RGN
Sharon Platt-McDonald works as the Director for Health, Women’s Ministries and Community Services for the Seventh-day Adventist church in the British Isles. Influenced by Jesus’ ministry of compassion she pursued a career in the caring profession and is a registered nurse, midwife and health visitor with experience in Health Service Management. She is a Certified Health Coach, and currently pursuing a PhD in Original Medicine.
Producing a range of resources for churches and communities, Sharon has developed devotionals, health DVDs, manuals, booklets, leaflets, cards and health series for Christian TV channels and web video streams.
She has a passion for the encouragement, empowerment and development of individuals, and has produced resources and seminars to assist various life events, adverse experiences, recovery and safeguarding wholisitc wellbeing.
Sharon is enthusiastic about sharing the message of health, hope and healing. She believes that as we follow Divine directives for emotional, physical, spiritual and social wellbeing, we will positively impact our churches and communities with the ministry of restoration, to the glory of God.
Sharon is married to Denzle, an IM&T Application Specialist, and member of the London Adventist Chorale.
Mrs. Sharon Platt-McDonald will be presenting the workshop "Putting faith into practice"
