Year: 1990 Setting: Hut in We, Lifou Position: Private general practitioner in New Caledonia A small familial delegation comes to my office one morning asking …
Category: Global health
Treating the injured amid the apocalypse of Haiti
Over the last two days, I have spoken to seven caregivers at Stanford who treated earthquake victims in Haiti, all describing what they experienced as …
Individual vs. public health
Year: 1993 Setting: Mendi Hospital, Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea Position: Chief medical officer for Chevron Chevron is contributing to the budget of Mendi …
Rescuing Haiti's HIV/AIDS patients
Among the many aftershocks of the Haitian earthquake is that it left thousands of HIV/AIDS patients in dire need of medical help, including medication. Before …
Generating ideas
Year: 1995 Setting: Ialibu Hospital, Papua New Guinea Position: Chief medical officer for Chevron, Papua New Guinea Mission: Delivering a check to the manager of …
Some perspectives on Haiti
The current relief and rescue efforts are being hampered by the chronic, dismal state of the Haitian physical infrastructure (communication, transportation, health-care network, sanitation, urban …
FACE AIDS responds to the emergency in Haiti
One of the organizations on the Stanford campus that has always impressed me is FACE AIDS, a group of very energetic students who have taken …
SOS from Haitian hospitals
The morning after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, the halls of Hopital Albert Schweitzer in the Artibonite Valley, some 40 miles north of the …
Vaccinations in Brazil
Year: 1974 Setting: French consulate in Rio de Janeiro Position: Medical student I am a third-year medical student at the Federal University of Rio de …
A stabbing in Lagos, Nigeria
Year: 1984 Setting: Branch of the St. Francis Hospital Position: Private general practitioner The waiting room is packed and I am busy with a patient …
Fatal consequences of jet lag
Year: 1994 Setting: Brisbane airport, Australia Position: Chief medical officer for Chevron in Papua New Guinea It had been a long flight for a Chevron …
Dramatic new film on Kristof's search for social change
Last night I previewed a new HBO documentary, Reporter, in which New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof takes viewers on an astonishing journey in his …
Expatriate woes in Singapore
Year: 2002 Setting: Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore Position: Private general practitioner I am the first and only French private general practitioner in Singapore. I discovered years …
Attack in a national park
Year: 1995 Setting: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Position: Chief medical officer for Chevron Oil Co. I have been in PNG for two years, seen …
Aescupalian snake?
Year: 1980 Setting: Corporate clinic in Edea, Cameroon Position: Resident physician On some of my professional gear, one can find the medical symbol with the …
The price of life
The value placed on medical activity is society-specific and highly situational. It varies greatly with time, place and human environment.
The value placed on medical activity is society-specific and highly situational. It varies greatly with time, place and human environment.