2007.07.14: July 14, 2007: Headlines: COS - Gabon: Medicine: COS - Madagascar: Service: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Medical school interviews disenchanted him as much as the Peace Corps fascinated him, and for two years Dr. David Roesel taught science to 260 students in Gabon. Now he flies to Madagascar every couple of months to volunteer at a hospital there.
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2007.07.14: July 14, 2007: Headlines: COS - Gabon: Medicine: COS - Madagascar: Service: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Medical school interviews disenchanted him as much as the Peace Corps fascinated him, and for two years Dr. David Roesel taught science to 260 students in Gabon. Now he flies to Madagascar every couple of months to volunteer at a hospital there.
Medical school interviews disenchanted him as much as the Peace Corps fascinated him, and for two years Dr. David Roesel taught science to 260 students in Gabon. Now he flies to Madagascar every couple of months to volunteer at a hospital there.
Roesel has been flying to Africa for more than 15 years, starting with the Peace Corps. A quiet but passionate man in his early 40s, he concentrates on the medical and humanistic portions of treating patients. Much like famed humanitarian Paul Farmer of the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains," the New Jersey native took university classes in both the sciences and humanities. Medical school interviews disenchanted him as much as the Peace Corps fascinated him, and for two years he taught science to 260 students in Gabon. Years later, completing his residency at the University of Washington by spending a month in Gabon, he met Dr. Harison Rasamimanana, a Malagasy surgeon-in-training. Harison trained in Madagascar but needed to travel across Africa and the world for surgical classes. It was then that the brain-drain controversy confronted Roesel: African doctors usually train in America or Europe, then decide to stay in Western countries. Harrison, despite his $200 per month paycheck, chose to stay in Madagascar as the only surgeon serving 45,000 patients a year. The two doctors kept in touch. In 2004, Harborview allowed him a four-month leave and Roesel made his first trip to Madagascar to help Harison at Andranomadio Hospital. He returned for a month in 2006, and will go back next month. Madagascar amazed him. The fourth-largest island in the world and roughly the area of Minnesota off the southeast coast of Africa, it melds Indonesian, African and French cultures and sports large populations of lemurs and chameleons. It's part rain forest and part desert. Oxen lumber down the few roads available. The two-story, 130-bed hospital is in a small town built by Norwegian missionaries. Despite its Lutheran history, Roesel said it was unlike other hospitals where patients are given a heavy dose of religion along with their health care. Harison wrote in an e-mail that connections between Madagascar and Seattle have helped expose him and his staff of 103 to new ideas and procedures. "They brought us a light and dragged us to a better vision," he wrote.
Medical school interviews disenchanted him as much as the Peace Corps fascinated him, and for two years Dr. David Roesel taught science to 260 students in Gabon. Now he flies to Madagascar every couple of months to volunteer at a hospital there.
Seattle doctor takes medical skills to Madagascar
Work furthers ties with Harborview
By LAURA GEGGEL
P-I REPORTER
Caption: Dr. David Roesel, an ER physician at Harborview, flies to Madagascar every couple of months to volunteer at a hospital there. Photo: Meryl Schenker / P-I
Dr. David Roesel knew the Madagascar nurses could find and take a pulse. He'd taught them how. So why weren't patients' pulses showing up in the medical charts?
One of the nurses made the embarrassing confession that she and her colleagues lacked not the knowledge -- but a watch -- to measure the pulse rate.
Roesel, an attending physician in the emergency room who also works in the international medicine clinic serving refugees at Harborview Medical Center, promptly bought them a wristwatch. He also found a clock store in Central District in Seattle -- Tiempo Watch and Clock Shop -- that would donate four clocks to Andranomadio Lutheran Hospital in Madagascar.
That was just the start.
Roesel has been flying to Africa for more than 15 years, starting with the Peace Corps. A quiet but passionate man in his early 40s, he concentrates on the medical and humanistic portions of treating patients. Much like famed humanitarian Paul Farmer of the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains," the New Jersey native took university classes in both the sciences and humanities.
Medical school interviews disenchanted him as much as the Peace Corps fascinated him, and for two years he taught science to 260 students in Gabon.
Years later, completing his residency at the University of Washington by spending a month in Gabon, he met Dr. Harison Rasamimanana, a Malagasy surgeon-in-training. Harison trained in Madagascar but needed to travel across Africa and the world for surgical classes. It was then that the brain-drain controversy confronted Roesel: African doctors usually train in America or Europe, then decide to stay in Western countries. Harrison, despite his $200 per month paycheck, chose to stay in Madagascar as the only surgeon serving 45,000 patients a year.
The two doctors kept in touch. In 2004, Harborview allowed him a four-month leave and Roesel made his first trip to Madagascar to help Harison at Andranomadio Hospital. He returned for a month in 2006, and will go back next month.
Madagascar amazed him. The fourth-largest island in the world and roughly the area of Minnesota off the southeast coast of Africa, it melds Indonesian, African and French cultures and sports large populations of lemurs and chameleons.
It's part rain forest and part desert. Oxen lumber down the few roads available. The two-story, 130-bed hospital is in a small town built by Norwegian missionaries. Despite its Lutheran history, Roesel said it was unlike other hospitals where patients are given a heavy dose of religion along with their health care.
Harison wrote in an e-mail that connections between Madagascar and Seattle have helped expose him and his staff of 103 to new ideas and procedures. "They brought us a light and dragged us to a better vision," he wrote.
Malaria and tuberculosis are major health problems in Madagascar. But patients, needed in the rice fields, wait until severe sickness before visiting the doctor. Roesel treated them from morning to night, all the while wondering if his help would make a difference in the long run.
"We tend to have a naïve view that simply giving is an act of good," he said. For example, doctors who travel to poor countries in two-week increments may mean well, but the difficulty of post-operation care and the amount of time it takes to adjust to culture and environment may hinder their ability to fully treat patients.
There is no right or wrong way to go about medical aid -- many doctors do not have the opportunity to take a month off for charity work. Programs that help with long-term goals, such as training physicians and donating equipment, often have better effects.
Katrine Luftberg, a first-year resident at Oregon Health and Sciences University, spent several months at Andranomadio through the UW's Puget Sound Partners for Global Health. She and Harison would operate daily and see other patients for five minutes apiece -- all the time that was permitted -- between operations.
In the short term, she wants to raise initial awareness of problems hospitals face in developing countries. In the long term, she would like to see more advanced health care training programs in Africa.
Dr. King Holmes, director of the UW's Department of Global Health and head of infectious diseases at Harborview, encourages medical students and residents to travel abroad. He calls them the "G for Global generation."
"In a post 9/11 and modern era, it has become important for young people to become more involved in global citizenship," Holmes said.
Global citizenship has its challenges. Doctors cannot rely on medical imaging machines or particular antibiotics to treat patients.
"In a place where you've got nothing but hands, heart and a brain, there is no room for mediocrity," Roesel said.
YOU CAN HELP
Dr. David Roesel is helping host a fundraiser to benefit Andranomadio Hospital in Madagascar, where Roesel, a Harborview Medical Center physician, has been helping out for three years. Live music, barbecue and raffles will be featured. Roesel says he hopes the event will "bring a little bit of equality to a world so out of balance."
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Waid's Haitian Cuisine and Lounge, 1212 E Jefferson St.
How much: $20 at the door, or at brownpapertickets.com
LEARN MORE
To donate or learn more about the fundraiser and Roesel's efforts, go to givebackseattle.com
P-I reporter Laura Geggel can be reached at 206-448-8397 or laurageggel@seattlepi.com.
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Headlines: July, 2007; Peace Corps Gabon; Directory of Gabon RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Gabon RPCVs; Medicine; Peace Corps Madagascar; Directory of Madagascar RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Madagascar RPCVs; Service; Peace Corps Library; Peace Corps Countries of Service; Peace Corps History; Peace Corps Message Board; Recent Peace Corps News
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Story Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Gabon; Medicine; COS - Madagascar; Service
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