Lives of two family practice physicians who do volunteer work with missionaries

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 01 Jun 2004 - 9:00 PDT

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The Tans, who both are family practice physicians in Yorba Linda, Calif., spend time away from home volunteering with missionaries in medically underserved countries such as Haiti and Honduras, where electricity is hard to come by, telephones often don't work and running water is a luxury. Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria are rampant in these populations. Patients often walk for days to get care they desperately need.

"We find that people wait until they are extremely sick to get help because they have no transportation," said Dr. Joanna Tan. "But they work so hard to survive. You have to respect them."

The Tans are among a growing number of physicians who make such trips - and when they volunteer, it's a family affair. They are joined by their daughter, Jessica, a third-year medical student at the University of California San Francisco, who works in the clinics with them, and their son, Derrek, an engineer who helps out on construction projects.

On their first trip to the village of Les Cayes, Haiti, two years ago, Dr. Joanna Tan said, they learned that many Haitian hospitals turn away those who cannot pay - even women in labor. As a result, volunteer doctors sometimes find themselves paying for patients in dire situations to get urgent care in hospitals.

Medications, equipment - even office supplies - are scarce. In one Haitian clinic, hypodermic needles are used to post notes on bulletin boards.

"At our first clinic, when I asked where I could find some paper towels, they looked at me and said, 'What do you need paper towels for?' and pointed to a dirty cloth," she said. "Since then, I always bring a stock of paper towels from home and guard them with my life."

During the family's trip to Belfate, Honduras, in 2003, they volunteered at Hospital Loma de Luz, a new facility developed by the Cornerstone Foundation, an American not-for-profit organization. The hospital is, "as basic as you can get," said Dr. Tan, but has an x-ray machine, computers in the rooms and even has air conditioning. Medications are brought in by short-term volunteers. Because of its remote location, virtually all patients arrive via bus in the morning and depart in the afternoon.

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