An Austin Physician Leaves his Practice to Relieve Suffering in Nicaragua

It was 1989 when Dr. John Doty saw true poverty for the first time.

"My brother asked me to go on a short-term medical mission," he recalls. "I had always enjoyed canoeing, camping, backpacking—so I saw it as an adventure. I signed up on a lark."

But what he saw when he traveled to Peru on that mission changed him forever. "I was confronted with what poverty is. True world poverty is unimaginably harsh. When you see starving children, and when you see untreated health problems that are easily correctible, you're driven to do something about it."

He and his brother also realized the limitations of short-term medical brigades.

"You drop down in the community, you treat the kids for worms, you give them vitamins and treat the lice, but you can't really treat serious illnesses because you have no lab, no medical records, and limited medicines. Then, you get back on your plane and you might was well be flying back to Mars."

With no follow-up, within a few months, the kids they treated would be re-infested with worms and lice. Dr. Doty thought there had to be a better way.

More Than a Medical Brigade

With a civil war breaking out in Peru, Dr. Doty and the medical brigade, realizing they couldn't go back there, sought out another place where they could minister. Through some connections, they were able to build a relationship with Dr. Nour Sirker in Nicaragua, so they set their sights there.

In 1992, a team from Doty's church, along with people from other churches around Austin, started taking medical teams to Nicaragua. But this time, they had a bigger vision—they wanted to do more than just treat patients for a week or two.

During the past 17 years they've done just that. They've developed and funded many different initiatives, including partnerships with five different clinics in Nicaragua, an effort to provide breast and cervical cancer care in cooperation with other groups (cervical cancer is the No.1 killer of Nicaraguan women between the ages of 30 and 60), and the development of a Nicaraguan cancer registry (with the help of donated computers).

The group also recruits U.S. doctors to get involved by building relationships with Nicaraguan doctors and passing along their expertise, knowledge, and skills. "I pair U.S. doctors with a Nicaraguan doctor in their specialty. The U.S. doctors will pick a topic, lecture on it, discuss cases, and transfer their knowledge to the specialist in Nicaragua. When they come back to the U.S., their skills and knowledge are left in Nicaragua."

Photos left to right: Dr. Doty with the staff of Casa Base de Salud; Donating rice and beans to the school in La Chureca; Children who live in La Chureca

Treating Patients in a Trash Dump

In 2007, the group decided it was time to better organize what they were doing, and they formed Austin Samaritans. Dr. Doty left his oncology practice, the Southwest Regional Cancer Center, on Feb. 26, 2008 to become Executive Director of the organization.

He travels to Nicaragua every few months. Often, he'll visit Casa Base de Salud, a clinic Austin Samaritans supports in a squatter's settlement called La Chureca (translated: the wastebasket), located in the trash dump at the northwest corner of Managua, the country's capital. Thirteen hundred people call La Chureca their home, and more than 2,700 people rummage through the garbage to survive.

He's seen many changes there, including improved conditions within La Chureca and a partnership between the clinic and the nearby school, where Austin Samaritans helps with a feeding program. "The most fulfilling things are seeing the changes, as well as the dedication of Nicaraguan health care workers, teachers, and staff. They work under conditions that American professionals would find intolerable."

How You Can Make an Impact

When he's back in the U.S., Dr. Doty travels around speaking to different groups and letting people know about Austin Samaritans and how they can help.

Currently, Austin Samaritans needs a full spectrum of medical specialties—as well as dieticians, nurses, physical therapists, audiologists, and even construction workers. "Whatever you do best in the U.S.—we figure out how to use that skill in Nicaragua."

"There are many willing partners, in Nicaragua and other countries," Doty says, "If you take the time to develop relationships with the indigenous health care workers, you can make a much greater impact than you can with a short-term visit. That's the key."

Contact John Doty at jdoty@austinsamaritans.org. To find out more about Austin Samaritans, visit www.austinsamaritans.org.

Starting a Family? It May be Time for an Insurance Check-up.

If you are at a point in your life when you're newly married and starting a family, it's a crucial time to think about getting insurance in place to protect your new family.

There are several insurance plans you may want to think about, including:

Medical Insurance – Will you or your spouse add the new baby to your medical plan? It's a good time to think about which spouse's plan has the best maternity and well-baby care.

Life Insurance – When a baby enters the picture, make sure each spouse will be able to manage financially if the other dies. Even a stay-at-home spouse may need life insurance, because if he or she were to pass away, how would the surviving spouse pay for child care?

Remember, getting insurance in place before you're expecting a child is crucial—especially when it comes to maternity coverage and life insurance. You may not be able to get maternity coverage if you're already expecting; life insurance companies still consider it a risk to insure a pregnant woman. So if you're already expecting, you may have to wait until after your baby is born in order to purchase or change a life insurance policy.

Long-term Disability – Like life insurance, long-term disability is important to keep your family financially secure if you or your spouse cannot work.

To find out more, read the guide Safe and Sound: Insurance Protection for Young Families by going to www.tmait.org.

Need Insurance During a Job Transition? TMAIT Can Help.

Like many Americans these days, Fred and Irma Martin, both physicians, had COBRA insurance during a job transition, and were wondering what they were going to do when their COBRA coverage ran out.

"In the maze of options it was difficult—even for us as physicians—to feel like we were making the right choice for our family," says Irma Martin. "What was difficult was to continue with the daily tasks at hand while at the same time processing the overwhelming amount of insurance information available."

Thankfully, with the help of TMAIT, they were able to secure new coverage with a BlueCross BlueShield of Texas group health insurance plan before their COBRA expired.

"TMAIT reduced our options to a very comfortable level … and answered EVERY question we had. TMAIT provided us with the support and information to help us feel like we made an educated decision that we felt extremely comfortable with."

If you're going through a job transition and need help figuring out your insurance options, talk to a TMAIT advisor today at (800) 880-8181.

Join TMAIT for the following events:

Travis County Medical Society Annual Meeting

TMAIT is helping to sponsor the Travis County Medical Society (TCMS) Annual Meeting and Recognition of 2009 Physician of the Year, Homer R. Goehrs. The meeting will be held Thurs., Dec. 3, at the Austin Country Club, 4408 Long Champ Dr., Austin, TX. The reception starts at 6:30, with dinner following at 7:30. To RSVP, call TCMS at (512) 206-1249 or register online at www.tcms.com.

TMA Winter Conference

If you attend the TMA Winter Conference Jan. 29-30 at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin, be sure to stop by the TMAIT booth and pick up a brochure. The conference will feature keynote speaker Rick Perry, Governor of the State of Texas, who will discuss the future of health care delivery in Texas. Also, Chip Heath, author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, will speak. You won't want to miss this exciting lineup!

Registration is free for TMA members. You can register online by going to http://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=3337.

Health Information Technology Fair Rescheduled for Early 2010

The Travis County Medical Society's Health Information Technology Vendor Fair, originally scheduled for Nov. 5, has been postponed until early 2010. Stay tuned for information about the new dates.

The fair will include firsthand demonstrations on electronic medical records, health-information exchange systems, e-prescribing systems, and ways to connect medical equipment to a new or existing EMR system.

To register, contact the society at (512) 206-1146, tcms@tcms.com, or online http://www.surveymonkey.com.

This event is sponsored in part by the Medical Service Bureau, TMAIT, Texas Medical Liability Trust, and Austin Radiological Association.