The Past Life

The Inside Scoop
The Past Life

By: Cam Alyssa Wilson 

In the mist of rebellious activity in the Parisian countryside a young group of doctors made the historic decision to go help those wounded by war and natural disasters; unknowingly changing what the idea of humanitarian efforts was defined as. Unlike most doctors and nurses of the time, these doctors didn't care what side, what race, or what country you were from. If you needed medical help they were there to help. Soon after the issue in Persia, more horrifying images were sent across the airways, of Biafra and the people suffering there in.

Max Recamier and Pascal Greletty-Bosviel were the only two volunteer doctors with The International Committee of the Red Cross. Unknown to most people, The Red Cross is not a medical organization at all. The Red Cross recruited these two men because they had worked with the ICRC in the past. Their task was to find other volunteer doctors willing to go on a humanitarian mission to Biafra. Going from nice clean environment to a hospital whose highest priority was making sure patients and doctors survived the frequent attacks from Nigerian armed forces was a wake up call for these doctors. After that they began to lay the foundations for a new form of humanitarianism that would ignore political or religious boundaries and only pay attention to those suffering.

In 1971, Raymond Borel and Philippe Bernier, journalists from the medical review Tonus, issued an appeal to establish a band of doctors to help people suffering in the midst and wake of major disasters"

                 

     

On December 22, 1971 Médecins Sans Frontières.’(Doctors without borders) was officially created. MSF’s first mission, in 1972, was to Managua, Nicaragua where an earthquake killed upwards of 25,000 people. At that time a volunteer base of 300 doctors, nurses, and support staff, including the entire group of founding doctors collectively banded together on a relief mission. In 1974, Hurricane Fifi devastated Honduras MSF moved mountains to help the people survive. In 1975, MSF established its first mega-scale medical program during the refugee crisis, providing medical care for Cambodians seeking refugee from Pol Pot’s rule. Sense then Doctors Without Borders has set up 28 different countries with 30,000 hands reaching throughout the world at any one time

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"It’s simple really: go where the patients are. It seems obvious, but at the time it was a revolutionary concept because borders got in the way. It’s no coincidence that we called it ‘Médecins Sans Frontières.’"

-BERNARD KOUCHNERMSF FOUNDER

Come back in a week for the next Inside Scoop!

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/about-us/history-principles/founding-msf

Life Without Borders

The Inside Scoop
Life Without Borders

By: Cam Alyssa Wilson 

Ever since I can remember, my grandfather pushed the medical field onto everyone; whether it was an unsuspecting distant cousin at a family reunion, or my own mother who is grown with five children. I can still hear it him saying, "There will always be a job if you go into the medical field. You will never be poor". Now this might sound over bearing, but that’s just him and I've grown used to it. He grew up in a small Alabama home with 11 other brothers and sisters. Most of them are doctors and nurses now; so, you could say medicine runs in the family.
Although none of my grandfathers’ five children went into medicine, it was always in the back of my mind that if didn’t find something I loved, I could always go into medicine.
As college drew closer, I could feel the eyes of my family bearing down on me to see what major I would choose. Being the first of the Burrell Grandchildren to go to college, I am expected to  set the tone because I'm the oldest by ten years, and it is up to me to be a mirror of excellence to my siblings and cousins.
I decided to come to Valdosta for Athletic Training. Wrong!!! I figured out that A.T. wasn't for me really quickly. As a matter of fact, I found out that it wasn't for me half way through my first semester at VSU. Afterwards, I moved my major to undecided. I knew I wanted to stay within the medical range, but I really hate to think about my life being reduced to wearing scrubs to the same hospital day after day. I know I would absolutely hate that. So that eliminates many of jobs in a hospital. I know I couldn't be a nurse. I would have to be a doctor to stay out of scrubs most of the time. Figuring out what type of doctor I would like to specialize in wasn't very hard. My stepfather was a Radiological Technician, so I have been thinking about radiology for a while.
 Then there was the other subject of travel.  I can't stand to be idle for too long; it just bores me to death. So I knew whatever I did as a job, it would have to let me travel a lot or allow lots of time and money to travel.
So that triggers this question: What type of job can be a doctor and travel a lot?
Well that’s exactly what I looked up! You know Google will answer any question you have these days. The first thing that came up was Doctors without Borders.

                                                  http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

I had heard of nurses without borders and the Red Cross, but it never occurred to me that there also had to be doctors for the nurses to assist in treatment. It immediately caught my attention and after a little research, I decided where my future was going to be headed. 

So there it is! I want to be a part of doctors without borders as a radiological doctor. 

                                Come back in a week for the next Inside Scoop!