Snapshots of Haiti: A Physician’s Relief Work in a Country in Crisis

Robert C. McKersie

doi:10.1370/afm.1187

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Thank you, Rob
Debra L Shank

Published on: 27 November 2010
The feeling of being inside the life lived
Edward Eckenfels

Published on: 15 November 2010
Family Medicine in Haiti
Ramon A. Suarez-Martinez

Published on: 11 November 2010
More Inspirational Work
Mark G. Flaherty

Published on: 10 November 2010
Family Medicine Serves the Broadly Defined Community
Joseph W Gravel

Published on: 10 November 2010

Published on: (27 November 2010)
Page navigation anchor for Thank you, Rob
Thank you, Rob
Debra L Shank, Lawrence, MA
Life happens, sometimes very painfully, but when individuals respond with their time and talent to help to alleviate the pain and suffering, then love results. Love is understood, universally.
Thank you, Rob, and all those who, somehow, gave of themselves to the people of Haiti. Your sacrifices helped to make a difference and to make this world a better place with your efforts and resultant hope.
We a...
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Life happens, sometimes very painfully, but when individuals respond with their time and talent to help to alleviate the pain and suffering, then love results. Love is understood, universally.
Thank you, Rob, and all those who, somehow, gave of themselves to the people of Haiti. Your sacrifices helped to make a difference and to make this world a better place with your efforts and resultant hope.
We also, now, have this article to ensure we do not forget.
Competing interests: None declared
Show Less

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (15 November 2010)
Page navigation anchor for The feeling of being inside the life lived
The feeling of being inside the life lived
Edward Eckenfels, United States
Because he is an authentic and purposeful person, it is hard to give a meaningful comment that captures the full sense of what Rob has written in this brief but beautiful essay. The essence for me is the core values he lays on the table.
Rob was an active participant and leader of the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program (RSIP), the student-generated, student- run, voluntary and extracurricular community...
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Because he is an authentic and purposeful person, it is hard to give a meaningful comment that captures the full sense of what Rob has written in this brief but beautiful essay. The essence for me is the core values he lays on the table.
Rob was an active participant and leader of the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program (RSIP), the student-generated, student- run, voluntary and extracurricular community service program of Rush Medical College. (RCSIP will celebrate it twentieth anniversary in 2011.)
As a Rush medical student, he learned hands-on community medicine under the guidance of Maria Brown, a family physician who volunteered at the Pilsen Homeless Center. In the dreaded freezing Chicago winters, Rob would join Dr. Brown in lower Wacker Drive, an underground street where the homeless huddled together for warmth and security.
Between his first and second year Rob was awarded a Dean's Scholarship to work in Baragwanna Hospital in Soweto, South Africa-- the largest public hospital in the world. His experience in Africa has driven him to further international health work, particularly in Nepal, where he continues to go at least once or twice a year.
Both at home and abroad, Rob became cognizant of the reality of life in a world where poverty and deprivation are social facts, and one's position in life has a direct effect on one's health. The values that were instilled, reinforced, and sustained through RCSIP involvement are humanistic and ethical--the quality of a virtuous doctor.
Competing interests: None declared
Show Less

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (11 November 2010)
Page navigation anchor for Family Medicine in Haiti
Family Medicine in Haiti
Ramon A. Suarez-Martinez, Lawrence
Disaster experiences enlighten the spirit and values of family physicians. When confronting a humanitarian crisis of such magnitude, the relief efforts of countless health workers from many countries joined to mitigate the pain and suffering of the Haitian people. Their resilience against adversity is a lesson for us.
Family Medicine has an important role in improving health throughout the world. There is ple...
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Disaster experiences enlighten the spirit and values of family physicians. When confronting a humanitarian crisis of such magnitude, the relief efforts of countless health workers from many countries joined to mitigate the pain and suffering of the Haitian people. Their resilience against adversity is a lesson for us.
Family Medicine has an important role in improving health throughout the world. There is plenty of work to be done. We must do more for Caribbean and Latin American peoples, both at home countries and here in the continental United States.
Competing interests: None declared
Show Less

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (10 November 2010)
Page navigation anchor for More Inspirational Work
More Inspirational Work
Mark G. Flaherty, New York US
This account of Dr. McKersie's humanitarian aid in Haiti is as inspirational as his accounts of delivering medical services in the rural and mountanous regions of the far east. This work has its own reward.
Competing interests: None declared

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (10 November 2010)
Page navigation anchor for Family Medicine Serves the Broadly Defined Community
Family Medicine Serves the Broadly Defined Community
Joseph W Gravel, Lawrence, MA
I am quite privileged to work with Dr. McKersie at our Federally- Qualified Community Health Center in Lawrence, MA. His essay captures the essence of family medicine and medical professionalism. His diverse skills as a family physician empower him to be so valuable to people suffering in a overt disaster as well as the often covert suffering that we see in our "regular" daily work here in the US.
I can attest th...
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I am quite privileged to work with Dr. McKersie at our Federally- Qualified Community Health Center in Lawrence, MA. His essay captures the essence of family medicine and medical professionalism. His diverse skills as a family physician empower him to be so valuable to people suffering in a overt disaster as well as the often covert suffering that we see in our "regular" daily work here in the US.
I can attest that Dr. McKersie is a special person amongst many other special people that work "in the trenches" trying to take care of the most disadvantaged patient populations as well as those serving communities with more resources. His personal insights in this essay are greatly appreciated and remind us all that humanity and human needs transcend political borders.
Competing interests: None declared
Show Less

Competing Interests: None declared.