Year: 1998 Setting: Yi villages, Yunnan province, China Position: Medical mission leader It is about one week before Christmas and we have been working in …
Category: Global health
When your worst wish comes true and it makes you better
Year: 1983 Setting: Ikoyi branch of the St. Francis Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria Position: Private general practitioner About 70 percent of my patients are locals, …
When your best is not enough
Year: 1994 Setting: Chevron Hospital in Papua New Guinea Position: Chief medical officer There are a few villagers living near the hospital, and often kids …
Political no man’s land
Year: 1988 Setting: We, Lifou, New Caledonia Position: Private general practitioner On Nov. 18, six months after the killing of 19 Kanaks (the indiginous Melanesian …
Communicating with the patient
In settings where no lab tests, X-rays or other diagnostic help is available, the diagnostic process relies on taking an accurate history of the disease …
Knowing when to bend the rules
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 …
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 …