Day 102: Team Physician

It is often said that there is no "I" in T-E-A-M, and I have found that to be especially true out here where the mission is dependent on setting "me" aside and putting the goals of the collective first. A prime example is our preparation each week for our free clinic which was held today. It takes the effort of the whole base medical team to adequately prepare for such an event.

Riding the Ambulance with Air Force Medics Styles-Glen and Jones

Throughout the week, several large boxes of humanitarian assistance (HA) donations arrives on base. This has been a successful endeavor through the efforts of my predecessors in sending out electronic flyers requesting materials to friends, family and organizations. As much as it is exciting to receive donations, it is also a lot of work! We have to use our ambulance to drive to our base post office, load the ambulance, then take the boxes to our designated storage facility. Once at the storage area, we open the boxes and sort out the various donations which can range from shirts, shoes, school supplies (paper, crayons, pre-sharpened pencils, markers, erasers), toys, stuffed animals, jackets, deodorant, dental hygiene products, chapstick, soap, and candy.

After restocking our inventory and assessing the needs of our clinic, we move the necessary items from the storage area, via ambulance, over to the clinic which is at the other end of the base. Items that need continual restocking at the clinic include toys, various school supplies, jackets, stuffed animals, and blankets.


Once we arrive at the clinic, we then put together "goodie bags" for the children, seperate the clothing by sizes, and sort the toys out based on gender. We also restock the pharmacy as needed with the most popular items being children's multivitamins (gotta love Flintstones), Tylenol, Motrin, Cough/Cold Meds.

On clinic day it takes the collective efforts of our interpreters, ANA(Afghan National Army) medical providers, ANA soldiers, and our own medical staff to make the clinic run smoothly. The villagers are met at the gate and searched, escorted to our clinic by ANA soldiers, signed in by our interpreters, and then basic medical care is provided primarily by ANA medical providers. Although we provide all the elbow grease to prepare for this clinic, as the US counterparts to the ANA, we will step aside and allow ANA personnel to provide the medical care as well as give out the free items. This allows the local population to slowly build their confidence in the Afghan military presence which in turn lessens their desire to support the Taliban.


As a physician, I have found that my profession doesn't always have to be about intriuging clinical cases, complicated hospital patients, or challenging in-office procedures. Being out here where people are ecstatic to be given a used jacket, a toothbrush, paper/pencils/crayons, hand-me-down toys, and a moment of my time...I have found that putting "me" aside has made me more of a physician that I could ever be.

"I am the vine and ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without Me, ye can do nothing." John 5:15 KJV