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| RENEW YOUR SKILLS |
The day following Haiti's earthquake I received this message from Dr. Jim and Sandy Wilkins, who have served at Haiti's Christianville Medical Clinic since 1999: "Our house fell down while we were in it. Our clinic building is half down. We worked for 24 hours straight, suturing and bracing fractures. 5 died here, 2 arrived paralyzed, many huge lacerations, limbs cut off. We are out of supplies and medicines. We are working on survival for the injured over the next few days. Keep praying!"
What if you were the Wilkins? Would you know what to do? The crisis in Haiti is a sharp reminder of both the precarious nature of human life and the enormous compassion of humankind. This crisis reminds us forcefully of the importance of skills. The most effective teams serving in Haiti today readied themselves well in advance for such catastrophes. The same fact holds true for healthcare professionals who serve people living in crisis everyday, whether in North America or nations like Haiti. Maggie Higgins, daughter of INMED's Board Member Ted Higgins, is quite intentional about learning such skills. She was studying under Dr Wilkins in Haiti when the earthquake struck. "Last night, a flood of people were showing up," Maggie wrote. "I've been doing a lot of nasty wound irrigations and debris removal. I basically took out a cement block from a young girl's head today. Luckily we have generators that are functioning and access to water. Even with all the pain and death that is going on - bodies have been piled up outside our clinics - I helped birth three babies in the midst of it all. I'm exhausted." But in spite of her exhaustion, days later Maggie Higgins gave up her seat on a Coast Guard evacuation helicopter to let on a severely injured Haitian. 
Now is the time to renew your skills on behalf of people in greatest need - to bear up and carry your dreams by acquiring the necessary competencies. These include competencies like managing malnutrition, unique injuries, and unusual infections; like acquiring cross-cultural skills, learning to train health volunteers, and to lead health initiatives. You may also come to realize that renewing your skills demands a change of heart as well - a personal journey from being self-centered toward becoming more softhearted.
This Spring INMED is offering remarkable opportunities to renew your skills. Our Certificate programs in International Medicine, International Public Health, and International HIV Medicine pair you up with a mentor like Dr. Wilkins who is providing healthcare in a developing nation. No training is more effective than working side-by-side with such role models! INMED's International Public Health and International Medicine Intensive Courses also provide the conceptual and academic background in these compelling fields. The future is certain to contain both acute crises like Haiti's and ongoing depravation in a multitude of poorer communities. Maggie Higgins continues taking steps so that, like the Wilkins, she will be best able to provide meaningful care. What steps will you take to express compassion and renew your skills on behalf of people in greatest need? |
| RENEW YOUR DREAMS |
Remember when you dreamed big? Peace Corps worker, concert pianist, research scientist, international medical volunteer. Remember when thoughts of grand accomplishments inspired your mind and energized your efforts? Weren't those exciting, life-giving days!
What's happened to your big dreams since then? In all likelihood, life happened. Your dreams moved to second, even third place, as you came face to face with financial limitations, family conflicts, career setbacks or even your own physical illness. Disillusionment set in as you were forced to compromise, and your dreams became fading memories. “Aspirations may indeed become distant, but they are difficult to lose entirely. Albert Einstein predicted while he was still in college that he would someday win a Nobel Prize. His next years were plagued by indebtedness, a broken marriage and estrangement from his sons, one of whom suffered from schizophrenia. Yet twenty-six years later, in 1921, Einstein prevailed, winning the Nobel Prize for physics, revolutionizing scientific thought and making possible many of today's technologies including photoelectric cells, lasers, nuclear power, fiber optics, and space travel. Marcy Lynn Coonce also dreamed big while she was still a physical therapy student at Ohio State University. But she hit some obstacles. Marcy comments, "I felt God was calling me to become involved with medical missions, but my university did not have many resources and I didn't know where to start." Marcy then connected with INMED, and with our assistance, Marcy went on to study and serve for three months at Vellore Christian Medical College & Hospital in southern India. Marcy reflects, "This experience made an enormous impact on my life. I grew more confident in my ability to handle difficult and challenging situations across the divides of culture and language. I grew more assured in my conviction to provide treatment for people who are in greatest need of health care." Dreams are never far removed from interruptions nor distractions, whether you're an Einstein or a student. I believe a key to keeping your dreams in focus is to surround yourself with others who share your aspirations, who fuel your goals. Indeed, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17). We at the Institute for International Medicine are all about assisting healthcare professionals to keep alive their dreams of serving the least served. Opportunities to connect with like hearted individuals abound, like the Exploring Medical Missions Conferences and the International Public Health and International Medicine Intensive Courses. Regardless of your profession or place in life, I implore you to reconsider your dreams, hold fast to the ones most worthy, to surround yourself with those who share your aspirations and to make 2010 a year in which your dreams take on life. What dream will you renew? |