Message from the President

The excitement in her voice was unmistakable. Her stories were almost unbelievable.

Dr. Kim Stillman, a third-year emergency medicine resident at Lakeland, had just returned from Mattru Hospital in the West African country of Sierra Leone. She made the trip with her husband; Drs. Ron Baker and Daniel Metzger; registered nurse Elaine Metzger; and Dr. Ian Jackson and his wife and daughter; a nursing student from Indiana; and the director and associate director of Global Ministries.

Dr. Baker, recently retired family physician of Lakeland’s Southwestern Medic Clinic, was raised in that region of Sierra Leone and has a passion for connecting physicians, particularly young physicians, with the experience of medical mission work.  

The country is so short of physicians that if a woman is in need of a C-section there is a significant chance that the infant, mother, or both will die. The infant mortality rate in the Sierra Leone is more than 10 times higher than the U.S., and the maternal mortality rate is nearly 100 times higher.

When they arrived, the hospital was essentially empty. The only imaging studies available were ultrasound, but no one there knew how to interpret the images. Fortunately, Drs. Stillman and Jackson have had training and first-hand experience with ultrasound at Lakeland and were able to demonstrate how effective it can be as a diagnostic tool. Dr. Stillman also attempted to provide guidance on how to operate the ultrasound machine to the local community health officers (CHOs). She said her hope is that future volunteers will make it a goal to continue the ultrasound education and training she had started.

Technology we couldn’t imagine living without, like serum chemistries, a complete blood count, blood gases, and X-rays just weren’t available.

The operating room had no electricity most of the time. If a surgery was necessary, it was performed without the benefits of general anesthesia. Fortunately, the drug Ketamine was available to help control pain and limit the memory of the surgery. Dr. Stillman helped to ensure the local staff knew how to properly administer the drug for future operations.

It’s hard to imagine providing healthcare for critically ill patients in those conditions. But it was the everyday reality for our team of physicians.  

Dr. Stillman concluded that it was surprising “how much you can do with so little.”

I often ask residents: “Save any lives lately?” After her recent medical missions trip Dr. Stillman’s reply was a definitive “yes.”

Although the facilities, technology, medications, and training are not what we’re used to, the team was able to save a number of lives. By the second day, the hospital was packed and the medical staff was able to diagnose and treat heart failure, various bacterial infections, malaria, and a number of surgical problems. It is likely that a woman with an ovarian abscess is alive today only because of the team’s surgical and medical care.

The experience didn’t just change the lives of those who received care. It also changes the lives of those who volunteered to share their clinical skills with those in such deep need.

“This is why I went into medicine,” Dr. Stillman said. “I definitely want to do this again.”

Isn’t that why we all went into medicine? To use what we know, take what we have, do our best to save lives, improve health, and to the best of our abilities, bless our community.