Esteban Arevalo

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

From Successful Efficiency to Restful Peace

Dear Lord, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here with so many friends and family as well.

Thank you so much that we can serve you on this Sabbath day.

And Lord, I just want to pray that as we all are in our walk with you, learning in different ways, in different things, that you can be our teacher today and that we can be your students.

So I know none of us like to be criticized, but I will be sharing a little of a secret with you and I will let you know that some time ago, I was criticized by multiple people.

And to be honest, I appreciate all the people that were criticizing me.

So I have no problems of hatred or anything with them.

But I had a few mentors in different moments, not so long ago, not so recently either, in a certain place, coming to criticize me with the same message.

And the message was that if I wanted to be a better doctor, and if I wanted to potentially consider further training in my medical career, I needed to change a little bit how I was doing things because maybe I was not being as efficient or maybe I was not being as, maybe in the future, if I continued in that direction, basically I wouldn't have such a great success as if it could have been if I didn't do, essentially, as many spiritual activities.

That it was not wrong to go to church, but maybe not as much to go to church.

That it was not wrong to necessarily go to a church conference, but why would you go to a church conference while you are going through your medical training and spend time there while you can also go to medical conferences.

And that medicine is something that requires a lot of concentration, a lot of dedication, a lot of intellect, and that I was maybe not doing it as correctly.

So I appreciated their feedback and I brought it to the Lord and the Lord showed me that there is no other path to success than to seek God's kingdom first.

And even though it wasn't necessarily so appreciated, I knew that in heaven it was appreciated and that was okay.

And today I would like to learn and to share something that I think God is trying to teach me and maybe God is trying to teach you the same, and I think we could learn together.

And I'm not presenting this topic as any expert, but as a student, as I said in my prayer.

And we have decided to name it from successful efficiency to restful peace.

And I don't know how many of you, but in this particular Loma Linda audience, I think most of you are extremely efficient and accomplished people.

And I commend you for that and praise the Lord for everything that you do to bless others.

I don't know how many of you are peaceful people and have constantly peace in your hearts.

Probably a number of you as well, I think, and I praise God for that too.

But sometimes we have people that are more very productive versus people that are very relaxed, and sometimes it's difficult to combine both.

And I think it's something that all of us can learn.

I remember some time ago they asked me to speak for some WMAR students that wanted to study medicine, and I think a few of them are here.

And 1 of the main questions they asked me is, how can you study medicine in such a way that is efficient and that you actually go through in a successful way.

A few moments later, they invited me to a different Bible study group with people that were already studying medicine.

And their question was not particularly how to study well, but their question was how to keep peace in your heart as you go through medical school.

So I was like, well, actually both things are kind of important.

Now from a Christian perspective, the desire of ages tells us something that I think is the greatest motivation to be efficient.

Because someone could tell, I have so much money already that why should I be efficient anymore?

But I think the most important motivation is this 1.

He who loves Christ the most will do the greatest amount of good.

There is no, amen, There is no limit to the usefulness of 1 who by putting self aside makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.

The Bible in the book of Romans chapter 12 and verse 11 tells us something very interesting.

It says that we shouldn't be slot-full in business, but fervent in spirit and serving the Lord.

Or other versions say, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit and serving the Lord.

So today I would like to just share from my heart a few things that I'm trying to learn myself, and I hope it can be a blessing for you.

So we are going to divide success in 5 steps that are not comprehensive, or the most comprehensive list that you will ever see or anything like that, is just some highlights that I think that God is trying to teach me.

So these 5 steps have to do with God, 1, with planning, second, Third, with developing or executing whatever you planned.

4, with something that I'm going to call waste management.

And each step, because of the title of the service, each step is going to be divided in 2.

1 aspect is going to be the efficiency aspect of the step, and the second aspect is going to be the peace aspect of the step.

So I'm going to start with the first 1 which is God.

So in terms of efficiency from God's standpoint, I think that all of us will agree that God gives opportunities and energy.

If you see for example the life of Joseph, in just 2 verses which are some of the most successful verses of the life of Joseph, it mentions 3 times that the Lord was with Joseph in Genesis chapter 39.

If you see the story of Daniel, it shows in the spirit of prophecy and also in the Bible, how God was very centerpiece in the story of Daniel.

And I love that sentence at the end that says, God gives opportunities.

Success depends upon the use made of them.

I remember, oh, sorry, someone was trying to take a picture.

So I remember when I finished medical school, I was in Chile, actually, at that time.

I had so many questions in my mind, many dreams in my heart, but also many questions in my mind.

And 1 of the main questions was actually what to do.

There is so many things that you can do with medicine and all of them are good.

And some people like only 1 area of medicine and I actually to this day, I like all areas of medicine.

There is no area of medicine that I think is boring or useless or anything like that.

And I'm like, how could I decide how to move forward?

And the Lord impressed my heart very strongly that instead of pursuing any of my dreams and working very efficiently and trying to take the best strategies and have the best possible outcome, I should actually stop and do no medical progress for 1 month.

So after, yeah, it was a little bit impressive to me too.

After graduating, I actually stopped my medical planning and purpose and strategy, whatever you want to call it, for 1 full month in the summer.

Because I'm like, the steps that I take now can take me in so many different ways.

And even though all of them may be good, I know that there is 1 which is God's plan that is going to be the best 1.

And I actually don't know the details of that.

So my prayer was not so that God could accomplish my dream, was actually not to be efficient, was not to be successful, and it was not even to have peace.

My 1 main prayer for that 1 month was that God could really help me and allow me to surrender my heart 100% to him.

That God could really, not just in theory, but in reality, give me 100% disposition to do with my life whatever he wanted me to do.

That he would really give me 100% disposition and willingness to go wherever he wanted me to go, whether that was in my country or in the opposite side of the world, whether that was in a very limited resources type of context or in a very rich context, whether that was in a very remote, isolated, and unknown place or in a very famous, prestigious, and cool place, that that was not what mattered, but was God's calling and that I could hear it and actually do it and that God could actually make it happen.

So I felt that my heart was not so ready for that.

So it took me a little process and I still carry that prayer with me.

But after that, God opened so many doors after that month, like doors that I had no clue about, things that I had tried multiple times before, all of a sudden God started to open them 1 after the other, and I praise God for that.

And I think that there is no other way than to put God on the foundation of our lives for true success that not only impacts this era, but also eternity.

So, the same aspect about God, I wanted to bring it to the aspect of peace.

And I wanted to just speak a little bit about God in times of discouragement.

I don't know how many of you are discouraged.

I'm trying to look at your faces right now, but it's a little bit hard to tell because all of you look either neutral or happy.

But I think all of us have been discouraged.

And you know, I personally think, and the spirit of prophecy also thinks the same, that 1 of the main ways to not be successful in life is fear and discouragement.

And I think that in the great controversy that we live, that is something that is very important to deal with.

God tells us multiple times not to fear because he will help us, but it's very interesting that my character and personality tells us that Satan's work is to discourage the soul.

Christ's work is to inspire the heart with faith and hope.

I saw, she says in Spiritual Gifts, which is a book that my wife is reading, so she shared this quote with me, I saw that the enemy will either contend for the usefulness or the life of the godly and will try to mar their peace as long as they live in this world.

But, praise the Lord, his power is limited.

He may cause the furnace to be heated, but Jesus and angels will watch the trusting Christian that nothing may be consumed by the dross.

And finishes saying, the powers of darkness gather above the soul and shut Jesus from our sight.

And at times we can only wait in sorrow and amazement until the cloud passes over.

I don't think there's many terrible things in life that are really terrible, but I think this 1 is 1 that you could actually call terrible.

From Surviving to Thriving: The Gospel Effect in Medical Training

I would love to pray 1 more time, if that's okay with you, so please let's bow our heads.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for the opportunity to be in this very special place, and we just want to thank you for being here with us.

And we want to ask that this room can be literally filled by angels today.

That you can be so close to us that at the end of this sermon, each 1 of us can walk through the doors with the biggest smile on our faces.

I echo Michael's comments that I love the view.

Unfortunately, I will be on the opposite side, but you can enjoy the view.

The mountains, La Malinda Medical Center.

You also have a view of Costco and Panera, which is very interesting.

And then you have screens on the side, so if you want during the presentation, you can look to your right or to your left to follow the slides.

Today we'll be speaking about a topic that we have named From Surviving to Thriving, The Gospel Effect in Medical Training.

And you know this is a very interesting time of the year for trainees, it's not the beginning of the year and it's not the end of the year.

So usually at the beginning of the year everyone or most people are very excited and also at the end of the year because it's almost done.

But in the middle of the year it sometimes gets challenging because you have your examinations, because you may be applying for a residency or another program and you have your interviews in this season, like Anthony Baca for example, please pray for him and for all of us that are going through the interview process.

Not so much here in Southern California, but when I did my residency, it was pretty evident that from now till February were the saddest months for residents.

And also, for some reason, patients seems to get sicker and they come more to the ED, so the ICUs are full, the emergency room is full, so everything is a little bit of a chaos.

So I thought that it was very interesting if we could just for some minutes meditate and enjoy how amazing it is to receive encouragement from the gospel in the midst of this little chaos that we have at this time of the year.

So I was thinking if I could say 1 thing to any of the participants of this meeting that is a little bit discouraged today.

You know you have 2 types of people in the world, encouraged people and discouraged people.

What could I say that everybody, every single person, whether you are in medical training or not, could relate with?

And God inspired me with a very interesting idea that I hope it encourages you very much.

So I'm going to come here and show it to you.

So I think that 1 of the most encouraging things that you can know in your life and that every Advent hoper should know or should hear at least once in your life, is what happens in your own body in a single heartbeat.

And then I'll explain why that is encouraging.

So, if you don't mind, buckle up your seatbelts, and for the following couple minutes, listen to a simplified but semi-detailed version of what happens inside your chest in 1 heartbeat.

It's a very complex interaction that has a molecular, cellular, physiologic, electrophysiologic, and anatomical explanation.

But it starts somehow between a communication between your brain, the central nervous system, between the sympathetic, the parasympathetic nervous system, and the actual structure of the heart in 1 tiny little location of the heart in the right upper chamber of the heart called right atrium in a little dot inside there called sinus node.

So as those electrical impulses come from your brain and also some things happen inside the cells of that little tiny dot, the membrane of the cells that has sodium and calcium outside and potassium inside starts going up and down in different ways until the electrical threshold of that little tiny membrane changes enough for you to start the heart impulse, and that is called action potential.

And that goes very, very fast from that little sinus node to both of the upper chambers of the heart called right atrium and left atrium, and they squeeze.

And that, on the right side, means that all the blood that was coming from all your body, deoxygenated blood, goes from the right atrium through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle.

And at the same time, on the opposite side, the blood goes from the left atrium through the mitral valve to the left ventricle.

But that is good healthy blood that came from the lungs through 4 pulmonary arteries that came into the left atrium.

Now, on a more cellular level, you see on the right bottom corner of the screen, you have in the heart about 5000000000 tiny little specialized cells that are called cardiomyocytes.

So that electrical impulse goes through the entire heart from the top to the bottom and gets spread cell by cell through very interesting connections called gap junctions so that the entire heart gets the electrical impulse and finally the bottom chambers of the heart also get this very interesting interchange of ions between sodium and calcium and potassium, and they also squeeze, and that is called systole.

And on the right side, the bad blood goes to the lungs so it can get oxygen, and on the left side of the heart, the good blood, or the oxygenated blood, goes through the aorta to your entire body, and it goes at a speed of about 4 to 8 liters per minute.

And then, after that happens, the ions go in the opposite direction so the heart relaxes.

And in that diastole, there is a little tiny period where the heart almost doesn't move.

And that gives rest to the heart for like a fraction of a second.

And then in that exact moment when the heart's kind of resting, the blood goes to the coronary arteries of the heart so that the heart can get blood for itself.

And all of that process happens in 1 or less than 1 second and is called, ladies and gentlemen, 1 single heartbeat.

So that, in a 70 or 80 year old person, will happen 2 to 3 billions, again and again, times in your life.

So, as you were listening to me, that same process, much more complex but I simplified it, happened inside your chest about 200 times.

And I don't know if there is another thought that comes to your mind that you are really wonderfully made.

And the creator, the king of the entire universe, designed each 1 of the microfibrils that compose 1 cardiomyocyte inside your heart, and there is 5 billions of them at least in your own heart.

And he took so much care that I would say probably most of you right now are having a normal sinus rhythm in your heart, like a normal heart rhythm, and that happens again and again in a fraction of a second by God's grace.

And I just wanted to reflect, if God took that amount of care and detail on this that gives us life or allows the life to circulate, however you want to say it, how much more will he care about our worries, about our big and little problems, and about whatever we are facing right across the street for some of us, amen?

So I would like you to take your phones for a second and open your cameras and scan this QR code that is going to show up on the screen in a few seconds.

And we are going to answer a very simple question.

So if you have your phone, please scan that QR code.

You don't have to create an account, give information or anything.

And just give it a few seconds on your phone and leave it open because we have more than 1 question.

And you can answer, start answering any time.

Thank you for the people that are already answering.

If you are in a sabbatical year, you can answer yes, because it's part of the training in a way.

But if you are completely done, you can say, I'm done.

So, so far, thank you, we have a great participation, almost 50 people, and about a little more than half so far of the answers are, we are in training, so majority will say are in training, and also a good amount are already done.

Congratulations for the ones that are done, and I hope that This message actually can somehow connect with both groups this morning.

Wow, almost 100 people answered actually.

For the people that are in training, are you undergrad, grad, or post-grad?

So it should show up in your phone and you just click and then click the icon that says send.

And we can see what is happening with our audience.

So I see that So far, almost 50 people have answered, and most of you, or most of us, are in graduate school.

Some undergrad, and some of us post-grad.

This is just for the, I just wanted to know, for the people that are specifically in medicine, where are you in your medical training?

Are you in med school, in residency, in fellowship, or you are already an attending?

I thought I would put a dollar sign in the attending answer, but then I decided not to.

Med school, residency, fellowship, or are you an attending?

I love this audience because 45, 40 to 45% are in med school, and then we have residency and fellowship, and then the other big group is attendings.

AMEN Conference 2025: Touched By Grace

Medical

Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

Navigating Spouse Satisfaction During Medical Training and Practice: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Welcome everyone to the, I guess, first breakout session of this afternoon.

And I want to thank you for making the effort to have lunch over there and then walk here and be here on time.

And I want to start by asking the Lord to help us today in this meeting.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here together.

Thank you for the medical ministry, how it is in Jesus, and also thank you for the marriage ministry.

And I want to invite your Holy Spirit to be with us to speak through me.

I want to thank you for all the participants that are here gathered together, and I pray that we can all support each other and be blessed today.

So for those of you who don't know me my name is Esteban and I'm coming from Loma Linda from the cardiology fellowship and I am very excited about cardiology and I remember some time ago I told my wife Annie that the reason why I'm doing cardiology fellowship is to get to know her heart better.

And I don't consider myself an expert on this topic, but I'm very interested in this topic, which is, as you can see on the screen, navigating spouse's satisfaction during medical training and practice, a case report and review of the literature.

So I have a very short case report, very short experience, as you can imagine.

But I hope that the review of the literature and other cases can add some strength to the presentation.

I do want to go over some actual scientific evidence on this topic.

I also, in the context of course of an AMEN conference, want to identify some ways in which this topic relates to the medical missionary work.

As you know, the theme for this year is Touched by Grace.

So that is an amazing, I think, reality to grasp and apply to this topic as well.

And then I want to share some practical insights from both personal experience and experience of some mentors and people that I appreciate.

And then I will love if all of us can finally grab some concepts or some ideas that we think we could implement in our own personal experience.

And before I move on, I wanted to say that everybody is welcome to be in this meeting or listen to it through audio verse, whether you are married or single or any of the, both, I don't know how you could say that, but if however is your journey on this topic, whether it's very exciting or very more on the painful side, I want to be very sensitive and hopefully that everyone is blessed and somehow can be encouraged by the presentation.

Before I go into the scientific part, which may be sometimes slightly heavy after lunch, I wanted to make you smile with a picture of our puppy.

And if you have time, this actually is a good time, like our friends are doing in the back, to scan the QR code, either now or at the end of the presentation, because if you are interested in getting CME credits for watching a puppy, you need to scan the QR code.

Okay, so to make this CME credits a little bit stronger, I wanted to share with you a very interesting article.

There is a number actually of articles regarding physician or medical marriages throughout multiple years.

I just try to limit myself to year 2024 and 2025 because depending on the year you study, different things were happening in the world and in the medical world, so the statistics can be a little bit different.

So I'll just give you the maybe the latest statistics that I was able to find.

So this is a group from University of California Irvine that had a genius idea of collecting emails from US physicians across the country and sending a survey to as many as possible so that they hopefully could get a representative study of the US physician Mary's situation.

And the topic was center around marital satisfaction factors.

These were the demographic characteristics of the people that responded the survey.

I don't know if you responded the survey or not, but there's a number of physicians that responded it.

40% male, 60% female, so pretty good female representation on this study.

Majority of them were MDs followed by DOs.

And then majority of them were attending physicians followed by residents and then retired and fellows.

Majority of them were in academic practice and some of them in private practice, and those were their specialties.

So this is an interesting figure that they came up with.

According to this, of course it's not a comprehensive statistics and has some limitations, but at least what they were able to gather in 2024 was that 86% of physicians are married, at least with this sample.

And some never married or some not currently married.

From the ones that are married, about a quarter of physicians are married to another physician.

And about 75, 1 is doctor and the other is a non-doctor.

1 out of 9 ever married physicians married multiple times.

And then the physicians that are not married anymore or that ended their first marriage, 7 out of 8 ended the first marriage because of divorce rather than death or another reason.

And then how old are the physicians when they get married, at least on our age?

That's the average of the first wedding for a physician in the US.

OK, so they came up with a list of distressing factors and also strengthening factors for the marriage of these physicians that answered from across the country.

Back to Menu

Presenter

Esteban Arevalo

All Recordings

From Successful Efficiency to Restful Peace

49m

From Surviving to Thriving: The Gospel Effect in Medical Training

59m

Navigating Spouse Satisfaction During Medical Training and Practice: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

40m

God Cares About Your Dreams

48m

Sound Doctrine