Soul Searching

well, phase one of my trip is over, none too soon. it’ll be nice to have a break for a couple of days and sleep in a bed that i’m used to. i’m looking forward, very predicatably to a big ole steak, and a bottle of good wine. there’s an ‘85 marcarini they have at cru that sounds mighty appealing, or maybe a ‘90 produttori di barbaresco, orvello, at the restaurant barolo… anyway, it’s nice to be headed home.

i guess the main thing i learned was that people get sick the same way all over the world. the difference was one of living conditons and access to the right kinds of healthcare. the people i treated for the most part were very deficient, whereas westerners tend to be excess. other than that it was n’t all that different from my practice in ny.

i did get to bring my medicine to underserved people who could never otherwise afford it. without question it changed many of their lives, and saved a few as well.

where i want to go from here is the question. i have definitely found this very fulfilling, but couldn’t i do this kind of thing in ny? or in the states in general? or do i need to think more globally? or is ths enough participation for me?

as you can see this is far from resolved for me. i feel like i’m in a good place to consider these things, but i need to reflect a bit more before i come to any conclusions…

i’ll be here for five days, teach a seminar, see some patients and head off to london for five more before going back into the field. where that’ll take me i don’t know. i’m supposedto be headed to cambodia, but that could change to some where else in a flash.

this will be the last post for the next ten days, but i think i’ve left you with enough meat for a while…

take care