I found Ethiopians to be a kind and generous group with an amazing sense of pride in their culture and heritage. The nation claims to be the birthplace of coffee, and the people have traditional coffee ceremonies in their homes. When you are offered coffee, it is very rude to decline.

Although Ethiopia is considered one of the most progressive African countries in medical care, standards are not congruent with what is found in an American operating room. With frequent power outages and the overall lack of resources, it was a real exercise in creativity. We had to learn to do the very best with what was available.

The nurses taught me nearly 50 alternative uses for IV tubing. Truly amazing! Power outages often left us using cell phones as light sources for the surgeons. There indeed is never a dull moment abroad.

Duringmy stay, Idevoted themajority ofmy effortsteaching Ethiopiannurseanesthetiststo perform regional nerve blockades.More commonly knownas a nerve block, this techniqueinvolves local anesthetic injectedaround nerves for the temporarycontrol of pain. Used in the U.S.extensively for years, this was anovel technique for the studentsand represented a large step forwardin anesthetic management.

Due to limited operating room availability, many simple procedures were not being completed. Introducing regional nerve blocks meant the patient no longer needed to undergo general anesthesia. This allowed the surgeon to perform the surgery without a formal operating room. We started completing the procedures in the hallways and making procedure rooms out of what were once closets.

Interestingly, the Ethiopian calendar currently reads August 2003. However, their medical acumen is far more than seven and a half years behind that of the U.S. Leprosy and polio are still prevalent, and salaries are very low. Most of the nurses I instructed had jobs after we were done training in the operating room. They would work overnight at private clinics to handle emergencies. Their salary would be 200 birr for this effort, which is roughly $12. In the United States, the same shift would pay more than 100 times that. Without funds to increase the education of the medical professionals in the country or provide better accommodations for patients, an increase in the quality of patient care is not likely to be immediately forthcoming.

After completing my month-long stay in Ethiopia, I returned to the U.S. with a renewed sense of professional commitment and appreciation for the tremendous opportunities available to help those less fortunate. I have lived a very lucky life. I was born into an amazing family in the right geographical location and time. I have had opportunities that are absolutely uncommon to those outside the developed world. One way to show this appreciation is through giving back, and strangely the rewards are far greater than you give. That’s why I encourage others to also share whatever training, resources or time they can for causes both foreign and domestic. I hope the inspirational nature of my journey will compel others to find a cause they feel strongly about and do their best to improve the lives of others.

Karl Disque, D.O.’07, R.Ph., became interested in international medicine after the January 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti. A senior anesthesia resident at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, last year he spent 10 days in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, as part of 20-member Rush medical team that treated up to 1,000 patients a day in hospitals, refugee camps and makeshift clinics. With one month left of his residency, he decided to again take his skills across the globe to help people desperately in need of more effective medical care. You can contact Disque at fritzdisque@gmail.com for additional information on volunteer opportunities or with questions about his experiences.

I was on a trip organized by the late Dr. Steve DeVore to Mali, Africa, through his nonprofit group Medicine for Mali. I returned to the States and my medical rotations with a changed outlook on medicine. I pursued an orthopedic residency of which I am now in my third year. I vowed to continue to serve the underserved in whatever medical capacity I was able, and this past March the opportunity to participate in another trip with Des Moines University arose. My wife, Tami, and I (shown in the photo) jumped at the opportunity.

Twenty-eight medical students, three physicians and a physical therapist partnered with the international nonprofit group Global Brigades and traveled to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, March 19-25. In just four days our group, with the assistance of two Honduran doctors, a dentist and a pharmacist, treated more than 1,000 patients in rural communities some two to three hours’ drive from the city. Most of these patients did not have routine access to medical care and were suffering from an array of common (and a few uncommon) ailments. The medical students took turns translating, triaging patients, taking vitals and examining patients with the physicians.

I’ll have to admit, as excited as I was to have the opportunity to participate in another global health trip, I was a bit nervous. After all, I am an orthopedic surgery resident. Probably much to my former DMU physical exam instructor’s chagrin, I haven’t picked up an otoscope or ophthalmoscope in several years! But Dr. Roberta Wattleworth had taught me well, and in no time we were diagnosing acute otitis media and cataracts without missing a step. We even witnessed a case of Bell’s palsy.

We saw newborns to octogenarians. There were, of course, the slew of common musculoskeletal complaints we had expected, and I had come well prepared with a full suitcase of supplies donated by my hospital back in Lansing, Michigan. There were a few budding orthopedists in our group who didn’t hesitate at the opportunity to learn how to inject a knee or shoulder. The tropical dermatology book was opened frequently, hundreds of teeth were pulled, many Pap smears were performed and through all our encounters there was a common theme: joy and gratitude. No matter the symptom, no matter the treatment rendered, the patients we gave care to truly appreciated the fact we were there to serve. Waiting three hours to be seen – no problem!

Walking five hours in the heat and dust – no problem! Words can’t describe the sincerity expressed by the patients we saw. I witnessed this sincerity of gratitude as a student in Africa and now again as a physician in Honduras. The attitude these patients expressed is why I gave up my vacation to serve.

The DMU students on the trip were phenomenal. Their attitudes and abilities truly speak to the preparedness the University bestows upon them. I can also say the same for my own training. I was given the opportunity as a medical student to participate in a global health trip, and I was taught the basic osteopathic skills and philosophies that would allow me to give back to the general medical community as a proud Des Moines University alum. I’m already looking forward to the next opportunity!

Joel Post, D.O.’08, resides in Lansing, MI. DMU’s partnership on this trip with Global Brigades came about thanks to Hiral Patel, D.O.’14; as an undergraduate at the University of California-Berkeley, she went on that university’s first Global Brigades trip to Honduras, helped organize another one and has since spent about two years in the country, where she’s helped develop a sustainable community health program.