In the Disney-Pixar movie Wall-E, a tiny robot is left on Earth to clean up the trash remaining after humans have long departed. Wall-E’s existence consists of a mundane routine of sifting through lifeless rust, garbage and refuse. That is, until one day when he encounters for the first time a living plant, one whom he must guard and protect. Suddenly, his life is filled with adventure and purpose.
Meanwhile, Earth’s citizens are living luxuriously on a cruise ship style spacecraft. They’ve grown shamelessly fat and deconditioned from the computerized comforts and have all but forgotten that their voyage was never intended to be permanent. When the captain learns of Wall-E’s plant discovery, he concludes it’s time to return home. Suddenly, creature comforts have little value. What matters most is fulfilling his mission and safely landing the passengers.
Many health care professionals today are like both Wall-E and the captain. We find that a world of lifelessness and personal comforts is not satisfying. We want a challenge, a life that matters; one that makes a difference. In 2009 INMED is introducing a new learning opportunity for those who seriously want to care for the poorest of the poor. The International Medicine Intensive Course is a two-week event designed to give health care professionals the knowledge fundamentals. It builds upon the information provided in INMED’s current International Medicine Online Course, but will go into much greater depth. The course will address:
• Determinants of health for developing nations
• Diseases of poverty
• Cross-cultural competence in health care
•Health leadership
•Personal skills for international living
A 20-member faculty is assembling on June 1-12, 2009, on the main campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Beyond to the knowledge and skills attained, this course will provide participants with the opportunity to become personally acquainted with leaders in medical missions and international medicine – like Joe LeMaster MD, MPH, a graduate of the London School of Tropical Medicine who served ten years in Nepal, and Nancy Crigger, RN, PhD, an authority in medical ethics and veteran healthcare provider in Latin America. Those who successfully complete the course of study and who pass the final examination will receive the INMED Academic Qualification in International Medicine. More importantly, they will be better on their way toward a life that matters in defense of the living.