Why do we still quote this long-departed German? In short, because seventy years ago Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s response to great evil continues be an inspiration to those of us today similarly responding to great evil. Bonhoeffer was a decorated scholar who in 1931 became a lecturer in theology at the University of Berlin. While academically […]
In Angola we at Kalukembe Hospital were not equipped to provide hunger relief. Rather, we were consumed with managing measles, treating tuberculosis, and caring for people loosing limbs from land mines. But when the rain didn’t come crops withered and hungry people nevertheless gathered outside our doors. So my Swiss neighbors and I made
A most heartening feature of international health care is the outstanding character of individuals thus engaged. Please let me introduce you to Dr. Kev. As a family medicine resident at Via Christi Medical Center in Wichita, Dr. Kev earned the INMED Diploma in International Medicine & Public Health, which included his supervised service-learning at
This week I am in Glendale CA, near Los Angeles, for the in-classroom section of the INMED International Public Health Hybrid Course. International public health is one of the most inspiring of fields, for its objective is prevention disease and disability among our world’s most vulnerable people. Whenever we speak of eliminating polio, combating
Healthcare ideally accommodates to the needs of the people being served. In actual practice the opposite is often true. This ideal nevertheless remains a guiding precept of the Liaoning International General Health Trainers (LIGHT) of NE China. I’m enjoying the privilege of my fifth winter among them. This photo captures a LIGHT physician offering
In recent years the annual Nobel Prize in Medicine has focused on awards for high-tech applications; like development of CT imaging and mapping of the human genome. This year’s Nobel Prize shines light in a distinctly different arena: advances against some leading diseases of extreme poverty. In 1985 I first traveled to Niger
Students in the 2015 Pittsburgh PA INMED International Medicine & Public Health Course – which begins on Monday – will enjoy the privilege of being mentored by INMED’s newest faculty: Paul Larson. Qualifications for this position are rigorous, and Dr. Larson’s credits are equally laudable. Following family medicine residency and a diploma earned from
To where could a short-term international healthcare experience ultimately take you? Please consider the inspiring lives of Mark & Angie Byler. As a medical student, Mark studied hospital medicine for a few weeks in Kenya. Later, Mark and I were on faculty together at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he met Angie and
Oh the power of parents! Once when I was about eight years old I went grocery shopping with my parents. It was a Friday afternoon, the time when we usually stocked up for our weekend trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. But unlike normal shopping trips, my parents were purchasing very unusual items:
Lubango Evangelical Medical Center was for decades only a dream in the hearts of Pastor José Abias, Dr. Stephen Foster, and leaders of the Angolan Association of Evangelicals. The vision was substantial: within Africa’s poorest nation to create a center of healthcare and compassion. In 2006, with significant backing from Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s