Yesterday I was mentoring these Chinese family medicine resident physicians. During my presentation I suddenly sensed a shaking chill. The weather is extremely cold here in Shenyang, far NE China – about -10 degrees. So I attributed my chill to the walk outside. But then I was struck once more by that bone-rattling sensation, […]
This daunting challenge is at the forefront of most every healthcare forum, and as it should be. Essential healthcare services, like influenza vaccination and hypertension management, clearly improve life and longevity for relatively low cost. But over the long term, even these costs must be reimbursed. What are the alternatives? One is funding though
In other words, as a person launching your international healthcare career is it better to first choose a particular community to serve, and then select from the available partnering organizations? Or vice versa? I’ve personally taken both approaches. In the 1980s my main objective was a patient care position in China (the ball
His was an intriguing proposal. His was an intriguing proposal. Tim Stephens, a medical student at Kansas University, approached me about a unique learning opportunity in the city of Shenyang, northeastern China. He selected the right mentor, for years earlier I too studied at the Shanghai Charity Hospital. Through the INMED Diploma in International Medicine
“Yet another 9-year old with a coin stuck in the esophagus,” explains Steve Foster, INMED faculty physician in Angola, southern Africa. “I grabbed it with the biopsy forceps, and up came the coin worth maybe 6-7 cents… Then a laconic comment from an ER nurse, ‘Oh, there’s a guy here who can’t talk.’ That
INMED, in short, is all about equipping healthcare personnel with the skills essential to caring for the world’s most marginalized people. This graphic illustration, created by INMED Chief Programs Officer Elizabeth Burgos, condenses a thousand words into the essential ones. GREAT NEED: In spite of today’s communication and transportation marvels, women commonly perish during
Fierce was the competition leading up to selection of this year’s Time Person of the Year. Runners up included Chinese business entrepreneurs, Russian politicians, Kurdish leaders, and even St Louis street protesters. But striding out front – on par with Pope Francis, 2013 Time Person of the Year – is this year’s winner “The
Greg Shay is a mid-career pediatric pulmonologist embarking on a life-long dream: to promote the health of a marginalized community. He completed the INMED International Medicine & Public Health Hybrid Course this fall, and is now heading to the African nation of Cameroon with the organization Mission Doctors to serve at St Martin de
One of the most daunting challenges in clinical medicine is finding the cause of an acute febrile illness. The implications are significant. Some acute febrile infections are life-threatening, like meningitis or cerebral malaria, causing death within hours. Some are highly contagious; putting loved ones – family and friends – at greatest risk. And some
Publicity is a powerful molder of perspectives. This compelling image by André Carrilho – intended to illustrate the racial nature of concern surrounding Ebola – communicates both negative and positive messages. From a negative perspective, some diseases causing profound suffering do not receive worldwide media attention until those in wealthy nations are infected. HIV,