{"id":2115,"date":"2007-08-01T16:59:52","date_gmt":"2007-08-01T16:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/?p=2115"},"modified":"2016-01-02T17:06:31","modified_gmt":"2016-01-02T17:06:31","slug":"why-do-medical-missions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/2007\/08\/01\/why-do-medical-missions\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Medical Missions?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2116\" src=\"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/immunization_clinic-e1451754284712.jpg\" alt=\"immunization_clinic\" width=\"530\" height=\"390\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Most health professionals dream of international service, but what motivates this ubiquitous attraction? For some, it is the reality of human suffering and a resulting sense of personal duty. Certainly the stark conditions of poverty, preventable disease, absent medical care, and needless death that affect developing nations are disturbing. Providing help is a moral imperative that often evokes compassion and action.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the inclination to engage in medical missions is usually more complex. Some health professionals see it as an opportunity to test their skills amid the most demanding circumstances \u2013 ophthalmologists, for example, who are thrilled at the prospect of performing twenty cataract surgeries in a day. Other health professionals are more motivated by the adventure of entering a new culture, welcoming the insight and unique friendships it brings to them and their families.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Medical missions is also a way to test one\u2019s calling in life. Scott Armistead is a family physician from Richmond, Virginia, who followed this path. At this year\u2019s Exploring Medical Missions Conference, he described how as a medical student he volunteered at a hospital in Tanzania, and as a resident he served at a clinic in Mozambique. \u201cWhile I did indeed care for people,\u201d explains Scott, \u201cthese were moreover \u2018vision trips.\u2019 They helped me to test and refine my career plans.\u201d Today, Scott is a staff physician at Bach Christian Hospital in the mountains of Pakistan \u2013 a role he\u2019s held for eight years. \u201cIn the final analysis,\u201d says Scott, \u201cmy motivation toward medical missions was not simply a response to human suffering. It was also complemented by a deep sense of personal joy and a desire to express my Christian faith in a very tangible way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Whatever drives you to participate, the Institute for International Medicine would like to assist. Hundreds of health professionals have investigated medical missions through the:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Most health professionals dream of international service, but what motivates this ubiquitous attraction? For some, it is the reality of human suffering and a resulting sense of personal duty. Certainly the stark conditions of poverty, preventable disease, absent medical care, and needless death that affect developing nations are disturbing. Providing help is a moral [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inmed-action-steps-for-you","category-global-health-news-inspiration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmedblogs.us\/nicholascomninellis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}