In 1971, a group of doctors and journalists in France got together to create Medecins Sans Frontieres. Today, MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, boasts more than 27,000 committed individuals representing dozens of nationalities who provide assistance to people caught in crises around the world. They are doctors, nurses, logistics experts, administrators, epidemiologists, laboratory technicians, mental health professionals and others who work in more than 60 countries helping people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. They also bring attention to neglected crises, challenge inadequacies or abuses of the aid system, and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols.
In this two-part episode of The Short Coat, Dr. John Lawrence, formerly associate professor of surgery at the University of Iowa and now at the University of Vermont, returns to the Carver College of Medicine to discuss his work in Doctors Without Borders.
Special thanks to the Carver College of Medicine’s Global Programs department, and to Mo Yacoub for production assistance!
Listen: Episode 014: Doctors Without Borders