"The Doctor's Art" is simply a play podcast that explores what makes medicine meaningful, featuring profiles and stories from clinicians, patients, educators, leaders, and others moving successful healthcare. Listen and subscribe connected Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, Stitcher, and Podchaser.
When it comes to aesculapian humanitarianism, determination is nary bigger sanction than Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), besides known arsenic Doctors Without Borders successful English. MSF is renowned for its enactment successful regions affected by equipped conflict, endemic diseases, and earthy disasters.
In this episode, we are joined by Christos Christou, MD, a Greek surgeon who has served arsenic the planetary president of MSF since 2019. As a tract doctor, helium has worked successful South Sudan, Iraq, Cameroon, and assorted different struggle zones.
Over the people of the conversation, Christou takes Henry Bair and Tyler Johnson, MD, into the trenches of his aesculapian enactment successful caring for immoderate of the astir susceptible radical successful the world, shares however helium finds meaning and anticipation amid the depths of quality suffering, and discusses the challenges to planetary wellness today.
In this episode, you volition perceive about:
- 2:28 How the values of Christou's self-described "rustic" puerility led him into medicine
- 3:27 How Christou's clip successful assemblage shaped his beingness philosophy
- 5:59 The past and ngo of MSF/Doctors Without Borders
- 8:13 What it is similar to signifier medicine successful regions affected by equipped struggle and earthy disasters
- 10:42 Christou's travel successful MSF, from erstwhile helium archetypal heard of it to however helium became its leader
- 13:41 Lessons learned connected uncovering meaning successful medicine successful immoderate of the astir resource-limited settings
- 16:19 Christou's stories of inspiring anticipation successful patients adjacent during incredibly challenging times
- 19:54 A treatment of the dangers faced by clinicians who enactment with MSF
- 23:11 The value of bearing witnesser to suffering successful giving a dependable to susceptible patients
- 26:25 A treatment of the large threats to planetary wellness today: clime change, epidemics, and war
- 30:00 Advice for caller clinicians who privation to tackle issues successful planetary health
Following is simply a partial transcript (note errors are possible):
Bair: Christos, convey you truthful overmuch for taking the clip to articulation us, and invited to the show.
Christou: Thank you for having me.
Bair: We are truthful excited to person you with america arsenic our archetypal clinician not based successful the United States. And whom amended to talk with astir planetary medicine than yourself? I person heard of MSF since I was a child, and increasing up successful Taiwan, I ever had this thought of MSF arsenic this eventual awesome of a large emotion for humanity and of idiosyncratic sacrifice. Before we get into what MSF does and however you got involved, tin you archer america what archetypal drew you to a aesculapian career?
Christou: Well, I ever wanted to go a doctor. I ever wanted to go idiosyncratic who could assistance others. And if I look backmost astatine my family's history, my begetter was a mathematician, my parent was a seamstress. But they some came from precise mediocre families. And to them, what mattered much than wealth oregon occurrence was to travel retired of this poorness by helping others and besides by gaining knowledge, by studying. And that's what they besides taught to me. I person to accidental present that it was 1 mode for maine to determination retired of this, and medicine was a precise bully option. And that's however I started. I tried hard and I joined the assemblage backmost successful the precocious 90s.
Bair: As you look back, what were immoderate of the astir impactful beingness decisions and experiences that person shaped the arc of your work?
Christou: It was those years successful the assemblage and particularly those years successful the amphitheaters, trying to recognize my determination to get much acquainted with aesculapian ethics, but besides to look astatine the societies outside, however we tin amended marque usage of what we are studying here, however we tin assistance others, however we tin assistance the full nine to thrive. Because it's much than conscionable helping radical and fixing their ain problems, their wellness problems. So these were rather impactful moments for me.
The enactment I had with different colleagues of mine, the aesculapian students, students from different module schools, that it was a big, large assemblage there. And we could spot that we each 1 time volition travel retired successful our society. We privation to lend and we privation to bash it by complementing each other. And these are memories that ever assistance punctual maine what we are present for. Of course, successful the precocious years of my aesculapian studies, we were doing the practices successful our hospitals and adjacent conscionable taking the humor unit of a diligent was specified a feeling. The precise aboriginal days of my career. I volition ne'er hide however radical ever look astatine you erstwhile you're determination to clasp their manus and marque them consciousness better, that, yes, we are present to assistance you. And I deliberation that this was ever a infinitesimal that tin ne'er neglect successful your beingness and successful your memories.
For the afloat transcript, visit The Doctor's Art.
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