rules of engagement the principles of underserved global….pdf

APM Perspectives The Association of Professors of Medicine (APM) is the anization of departments of internal medicine at the US medical schools and numerous af?liated teaching hospitals as represented by chairs and appointed leaders. As the of?cial sponsor of The American Journal of Medicine, the association invites authors to mentaries on issues concerning academic internal medicine. For the latest information about departments of internal medicine, please visit APM’s website at . Rules of Engagement: The Principles ofUnderserved Global Health Volunteerism John W. Wilson, MD, aStephen P. Merry, MD, MPH, bWalter B. Franz, MD b aDivision of Infectious Diseases and bDepartment of Family Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn. The day begins at 7:00 AM with a layer of mosquito repellent and boiled coffee in a tin cup. Our medical clinic in the small village of Rancho Pedro along the Dominican Republic-Haiti border is a small - posed of dilapidated wooden planks fastened together under a thatched reed roof. Patients with a variety of ailments line up daily outside the clinic door in antic- ipation of seeing a physician, often for the ?rst time. Most patients have been waiting for hours, usually after enduring an overnight mountainous trek from a neigh- boring Haitian or Dominican village. Many of the med- ical problems encountered can be treated