Hospital Loma de Luz- Honduras

As a physician, I encounter a fair share of brokenness in everyday work: torn skin, severed bones, ruptured organs, defective bodily functions, fragmented families and disruptive social situations, and overwhelmed and dejected spirits. Just in this past week, I have had to staple a child's scalp back together, put a woman's broken arm in a cast, refer someone with ruptured eardrums to our visiting Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist, stop a woman from severe hemorrhage after giving birth, report a case of underage rape to local authorities, start antipsychotic medication for a woman suffering from anorexia and major depression during the first trimester of pregnancy, and counsel a worried young woman with pre-cancerous changes in her cervix who was incorrectly informed she needed her uterus removed. Amidst all of the brokenness of this world and our humanity it can sometimes be difficult to focus on anything else. However, in every situation of brokenness, I have recognized ...

"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world." ~ Paul Farmer Many of you have heard of the popular saying, "it takes a village to raise a child." But what does it take to raise a village? I would propose that it takes an army- that which safeguards the lives of those under its protection. And though the army that we define as a military entity is vital to securing our liberty and safety on a national scale, there exists another kind of army of non-military personnel who is also essential in preserving humanity. Here in the rural outskirts of the northern coast of Honduras, all those who work at Loma de Luz hospital are members of this altruistic battalion. Every day they, like Paul Farmer, remind me that the only way to fight back against all that is wrong in the world is to recognize that no life matters less. The Army. I'd like to introduce you to the army here at Loma de Luz. It consists (roughly) of four Family Medici...

It's hard to believe I have been in Honduras for more than two months now- I have officially been outside of the United States for the longest period of time in my life. And though I can hardly claim this new land as home, I can say I have mostly acclimated to the warmer and more humid climate; one morning this week I could have even used a blanket when it was a "blistering" sixty-eight degrees! This week brought with it a handful of complex medical cases and some exciting adventures- I reflect on how the people and experiences of this world continue to teach me about the complex human condition and remind me of the beauty of creation. Not Right in the Head. For those of you who have studied parasites, you know that they have no respect for the human body and will find any place they can to take unwelcome residence- and sometimes that place is the brain. This week an adult patient came to see me for follow up for seizures that started a few years ago. Not uncommonly in ar...