Lenahan, William E.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 39 | Number 4 Article 9November 1972M.D.A. -- What is It?William E. LenahanFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationLenahan, William E. (1972) "M.D.A. -- What is It?," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 39: No. 4, Article 9.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol39/iss4/9since we are only giving one-fifth dose. Certainly it makes sense giv-ing the vaccine rather than spend the amount of money we now spend on hospitalization. In any event, this is a new pro-ject for us that is going to take a lot of pushing and a lot of effort and probably a lot of frustrations before it gets going properly, but I hope that by the end of the year, I'll be able to report that we have at least 16 of these clinics running smoothly .. .. I want to again express our grati-tude to all members of MDA for all that you have done for us-the support that we get. I often think that you people back there are making all of the effort, have all the headaches of recruiting and trying to raise money and trying to get us support for this organiza-tion, and it is those of us here who have the advantage of coming to the mission - that we are having a ll the fun out of it'! . ... Dr. Stoughton is a graduate of Creighton University School of Medicine and took his residence in General Practice at Community Hospital of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, California after serving in the United States Navy from 1962-67. Prior to going to Rhodesia in 1970, he was in private General Practice and a staff member of Im-perial Hospital. Dr. Stoughton is also a licensed pilot. November, 1972 M. D. A.-What Is It? Tom Dooley often called upon people to help those whom he said "ain't got it so good." He spoke of the claims that the sick have upon us, the well; the hungry upon the well-fed; the poor upon the rich; the suffering on those without pain. Our church is a mission church, and as doctors, we can find no great-er challenge nor greater ideal than the medical care of those untold millions of diseased, emaciated, mentally and physically ill peo-ples of the earth. Two-thirds of the world goes to bed hungry each night. That same two-thirds also goes to bed sick in body and sick in spirit. Can we ignore those sufferings of mankind simply because an ocean separates us? Are not their cries of pain and anguish as per-sonal and impelling as those of our own loved ones? I have been to the mission fields for only short terms. However, I remember vividly the feeling I had in a very small Guatemalan village where the mud and the smell were unbearable. As I looked at the people who were living like the dogs that roamed the rutty streets of the town, I asked my-self, "Where is the God of these people?" You cannot experience abject poverty and the pitifulness of the hopelessly sick simply by hearing or reading about it. That feeling, which at times approaches despair, is fortunately short-lived for the mission doctor. Can it be 273 that God asks that same question of us, "Where is the brother of these people?" It is a lesson in humility to be able to help them in any small measure. It was with this spirit that Mon-signor Anthony J. Brouwers called together a group of six Los An-geles doctors in 1959 and began the Mission Doctors' Association. It has grown steadily and successfully since that time. We now have doc-tors in four hospitals in Central Africa. In addition, we have a Fly-ing Doctor Service in Rhodesia with a Cessna 182 airplane cov-ering nine hospitals in the Central and Southern portions of Rhodesia. Mission Doctors' Association re-cruits Catholic physicians, screens them physically and psycholog-ically, and provides them with a training course together with the Lay Mission Helpers in Los An-geles. This training consists of studies in sociology, foreign cul-ture and language. The doctor then serves in the missions for a three year term. Mission Doctors' Associa-tion pays the transportation for the doctor and his family, gives them a small salary of $100 monthly, and 274 maintains close liaison with them throughout their stay. The bishop in the mission diocese provides a home, food, transportation and the cost of educating the mis-sionary's children. Each Catholic physician can join in this mission apostolate by joining MDA's effort in one of three ways: by actually serving in the missions; by helping to pro-mote the goals of the MDA in this country; by becoming a financial sponsor for a fellow mission doctor. Mission Doctors' Association's approach has always been towards continuous staffing over a long period by competent men, solid in their faith and secure in the knowledge that they have the constant support of their sponsor-ing organization. Again we might recall another quote of Tom Dooley's that "beaten paths are for beaten men." Let us accept the challenge to find new paths in new areas of the world where there is a call for help. William E. Lenahan, M.D. President Mission Doctors' Association Linacre Quarterly 

M.D.A. -- What is It?

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M.D.A. -- What is It?

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