AN EXCHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE
THAT MAY BE A RATHER TYPICAL SIGN OF THE TIMES
Dear Glenn,
I doubt you remember me from ancient times when we I think we attended SAMA
conventions while in med school (I represented Tulane), but they were interesting
times as I guess are all times, particularly those now. Hope you are doing well.
The reason for my letter is that I hope you can give me some guidance and/or
help. I listened with great interest to your presentation (as well as the others)
at the session on Surgical Outreach at the ACS meeting, and it heightened an
interest I had been mulling over for some time. I retired in early 1998 from
the private practice of adult cardiac, thoracic, and vascular surgery here in
Houston; multiple reasons led to that decision, probably all of which could
be summed up as a steadily decreasing enjoyment of practice. I have certainly
missed doing surgery and interacting with patients though I have not missed
the hassles at all. I kept busy with multiple projects for about three years,
but most of those are winding down, and I would like to find something challenging
and contributive to do. I at first entertained the idea of possibly teaching
and staffing with one of the medical schools here, but so far that has been
to no avail, possibly due to those jobs being as political as any, and I did
not train here at all (med school at Tulane, internship at Parkland, then GS
residency at Barnes/Washington Univ. and Thoracic Surgery at The University
of Virginia). I had thought that since a large salary was not an object, my
offer and interest might be welcomed at the VA or one of the county
hospitals, but so far no luck. I suppose you might be able to help me in one
of those areas if you know any of the Chiefs involved, but that is not
the purpose of this letter.
That is to see if you can give me some guidance as to where I might be able
to contribute in the mission field. I would be interested in whatever might
be available but more or less envision (probably naively) helping to staff a
mission hospital for weeks or possibly several months at a time but probably
not on a permanent basis. I could do general surgery, though I am not trained
in laparoscopic techniques, and could definitely do thoracic, vascular, or cardiac
surgery. Since I am retired and have two children in or soon to be in college,
my financial resources are somewhat limited and would have to say that I am
not in a position at this time to self fund a
mission trip. I am board certified (and twice re-certified) by both the American
Board of Thoracic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery.
I look forward to your reply. Thank you for your time and help.
Sincerely,
Thomas R. Calhoun, M.D., FACS
Certainly, Tom, and I do remember you!
It is not a unique position to be in, since the two chairs in front of my overflowing desk in my little office have been filled by residents and students to date, trying to arrange something they could feel good about where they might answer a need. More recently, they have been crowded out by colleagues who have been asking how I knew so much so soon as to shift my emphasis while the bloom was still on the rose--"Four out of seven days, I do not want to get out of bed, and by next month it may be five out of seven--and how can I get to do something satisfying?"
There is a world of it awaiting out there. It may be only in the redundancy of overcared for wasteful medical luxury that we wear out soonest, rather than against the overwhelming burden of the world's poor and sick.
I may have several bits of advice for you that I could give only from having rounded a few of these turns myself. Rather than giving you a list of options (the non-value judgment way of passing on any surgical decision-making for which we have been geared for the rest of our lives!) I will pick three of a long list of opportunities for short-term low-expense (tax-deductible) mission service, direct you to a couple of people who have made this same transition as you are making, and opine on the possibility of a consulting role for future activities.
Let me pick from among four dozen options (I had listed a number of these in a Bulletin of the ACS about three years ago in an article entitled "Wanted: World Class Surgeons", and a number of those listed have internet web pages, which you might also get from checking www.gwu.edu/~intmeded), and I will pick three: WMM, MMI, HVO
World Medical Mission is run by Samaritan's Purse, and two of its Board Members were sitting near you--brothers Dick and Lowell Fuhrman. They have the benefit of efficiency in their Boone, NC office and probably get the highest yield from the dollars expended. Their phone number is 828/262-1980, and tell Becky Williams I said "Hello."
Medical Ministries International is on a web site www.mmi.org and you can call Julie Borrenpohl and speak with her about the whole catalog of World Wide short-term possibilities. If you wish, I will send her an email and indicate your interest. I am going to Mindanao, Philippines, again, this February, and enclose a note about the last trip. But, they have enough missions in all parts that you could pick your time and place and see what fits.
I was the Chairman of GSO (General Surgery Overseas) of HVO (Health Volunteers Overseas) who are at hvo@aol.com They have a number of generalists and a few chosen spots for everything from pediatrics to PT, but surgery had been slow to get started, and I can perhaps discuss some of the potential reasons for that when we talk.
I am also leading a numb er of short two week excursions into the Himalayas this coming year and a few to Africa, and will attach those itineraries (Himalayan Health Exchange) which is not connected to an evangelical operation (also like HVO) which two of the participants at the ACS meeting said had discouraged them from an endorsement of the projects led by some of the other speakers. If interested in the Himalayas, you might check www.himalayanspirit.com or write to ravi@Himalayanspirit.com
I believe for the other questions you had raised, it would be well for us to talk, and I attach some phones where you might reach me, and perhaps even better, betting together to meet and try to figure out what we had said back in those early days at SAMA meetings about wanting to change the world for the better!
Cheers!
GWG