Thursday, November 11, 2010
Doctors Without Borders
On Monday, Dr. Richard Heinzl, the founder of the Canadian Doctors Without Borders (MSF) came and spoke! It was so exciting! Just reading about his stories abroad (Uganda, Cambodia, Turkey...) is inspirational and awe-inspiring! Before, I had been very interested in doing MSF, but after his talk, I'm almost certain this is something I would like to do once I'm out of medical school. Granted, I'll have to worry about debt, taking time off, safety, and perhaps even family...but those are problems for me to figure out later. For now, I just need to get through second year...
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http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/10/11/101011crat_atlarge_gourevitch?currentPage=all
ReplyDeleteThis one of those cynical articles about humanitarian aid. Note that the original (French) Doctors Without Borders started with the Biafa conflict.
Hm...it makes a good point, but I have to agree with that one person who takes the perspective of the individual - can you really just leave that girl with the amputated hand alone? If everything were to go according to the cynical view of the article, then we wouldn't be providing healthcare to people over the age of 80 because they've past their prime. We would probably not operate on those babies born with complicated congenital abnormalities or genetic issues.
ReplyDeleteI think ultimately, there has to be a balance between emergency and preventative medicine - and that's an ethical dilemma for a reason. sigh.