I received several questions this week from international-minded medical students regarding what specialty to select. Wonderful are your intentions over how to best prepare yourselves for a life of serving! My short answer is, choose the specialty that most interests you. There exists the misconception that only primary care specialties are appropriate for medical […]
I am impressed this week with the surge of inquiries about volunteering, even studying, at Bach Christian Hospital in the mountains of Pakistan. In contrast to the continuous requests for placement in Africa (I call this the ‘Bono/U2 Effect”) it is a confirmation that people indeed realize that enormous needs exist in other continents as well. Bach
Today I’m talking with two undergraduate students in non-healthcare fields about their interest in medical missions and in volunteering their skills. How wonderful to witness the altruism of these people! Their virtuous desires at age 20 may well result in compassion towards thousands of individuals in the future! As for the near term, I’m
Typhoid fever. At this moment I’m caring for a youth with this disease in the highlands of Angola, Africa. The typhoid ruptured six holes in his intestine, and has nearly taken his life. He is of the Ovimbundu people, for whom life has not changed in hundreds of years. The women and children tend
“I’ve lost three more patients today,” writes Ben Cavilla, MD, from the Lubango Evangelical Medical Center in Angola, southern Africa. “One had terminal AIDS. Another had a liter of puss in her belly. And the third was a young child with typhoid fever.” Dr. Cavilla gave up the comforts of British Columbia, paid his
Many healthcare professionals are enamored over the possibility of serving the poorest of the poor. But what steps follow this vision? First: equip yourself with the essential professional, cross-cultural and personal skills. Your transition from functioning in a community of affluence to one of poverty demands unique, new abilities. Second: join forces with other
“Would serving people in serious need help fulfill my life?” It’s a frequent, even if subconscious, question we ask ourselves. Gary Morsch observes, “People really do want to help one another and make the world better, but they often don’t know how to do it. People are looking for significance in their lives, but
Most Americans today are curbing their excesses, avoiding risks, and grumbling about falling victim to this recession. Now consider the contrast revealed through Richard (Dick) Bransford, a featured speaker at the Exploring Medical Missions Conference on May 29-30: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been in civil war for years. I knew
David Livingston, one of the 1800’s most beloved personalities, is best remembered as an explorer. He was the first white man to traverse southern Africa, to see Victoria Falls, and to walk the length of the Nile River. But Livingston’s autobiography documents a different identity. He saw himself primarily as a physician and as
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