O\u27Leary, Thomas

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 33 | Number 1 Article 15February 1966Catholics are a Little Slow in Getting Started ...Thomas O'LearyFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationO'Leary, Thomas (1966) "Catholics are a Little Slow in Getting Started ...," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 33 : No. 1 , Article 15.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol33/iss1/15cent format, has been its Medical Personnel F 'ment Program. This program so :; as a clearing house for medical personnel desiring to work overseas. Opportunities for such service are publicized by CMMB. After applicants are screened, CMMB tries to make the perfect match be­tween the qualifications and prefer­ences of the applicant and the needs of mission hospitals. CMMB does not contract with the medical appli­cant. Since no hospitals are under CMMB's jurisdiction, the final con­tracts are made between the two interested parties. CMMB screens both long and short term volunteers for services in Catholic hospitals and clinics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These men and women serve the sick poor through their medical . skills. The only "ministry" required of them is that of their profession. Membership in the Catholic Church is not necessary for placement through· CMMB. During the past four years, CMMB has placed twelve physicians for two-year tours of service, six physi­cians and two dentists for one year tours, one physician for six months and over fifty physicians and den­tists for one month tours. These placements included general prac­titioners, surgeons, pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, ophthalmologists and internists. (Articles by three of these physicians can be found in this issue of LIN -ACRE.) Approximately twenty nurses have served two-year tours and 40 �!even have s to a· year. f medical techn The Placem screening sev is hoped, wiJ missionary w during 1966. Since 1928, used the Cat Board to heJ of disease in of the world. port has kep:: expanding. Ti faction of kne, is spent carc1 given. Think able organizr. subsidized, w (packing, tru( nel recruitme1 etc.) are onl resources! l for six months three long term have served. ;ervice is presently ,hysicians who, it 6in their medical overseas sometime cerned people have c Medical Mission educe the shadow .derdeveloped areas heir financia l  sup­.e work going and have had the satis­g that every penn y v for the purpose it, here is a charit-1, completely un-�e operating costs 1g, medical person­promotion, salaries, .i% of contributed Much has l rt done ... but the sky is the lir to what could be done with at 1uate support. For instance, CM '3 has to purchase many things 11at cannot be do­nated, at least 1 sufficient quantity: medicine for , ·prosy, for malaria, for tuberculosi for worms. Instru·�ents, like mi · ·oscopes, are neededby the score. Additional funds would · enable CMMB to transpart youngmedical volun1ccrs to areas thatcannot manag<' even that expense.The need is p;reat. The satisfa c­tion of helping is still greater. _To be a link in the chain of com_pass1: for our stricken fellow man 1s to blessed more than he. LINACRE QUARTERLYlies are a little slm via getting startedTHOMAS O'LEARY, M.D. tdJ'oR'S NOTE: Doctor Thomas O'Leary recently completed a two year tour of -* at II Catholic mission hospital in Nigeria. Doctor O'Leary was introduced toIll liospilal through the Placement Service of the Catholic Medical Mission Board,...r in New York City. While serving in Nigeria, Doctor and Mrs. O'Leary were Ila with their Mth child. Upon his return, CMMB requested Doctor O'Leary to present a candid report of lhari: in Nigeria. His report follows.] We are finally getting our family lllded after our tour in Nigeria. It's nice to be home with our rela­tifts and friends and of course to line the many conveniences of liv� iii in the U.S.A., although we are lftldy becoming lonesome .for the wmderful people and way of life • uperienced on our mission tour ..Two years were really very brief wben cftmpared to the service ofpdes1S, nuns, brothers and, of course, die non-Catholic missionaries who 9111d an entire lifetime in the for­t mismons. We Catholics are a slow in getting started. How­Mr, the lay mission movement is Cllming on and I'm certain that-day it will be commonplace for iag1e and married people to volun­:-b_ short periods of work eitherlllaions at home or abroad. � two years spent in Africa �y opened our eyes to the llliers and material needs of 6i � we hope and pray that• :tively short experience will.._} the beginning for us. Al­.::i1 OUr large family may have ""-us down somewhat, as far asWork is concerned, I'm cer-tain that we will find ample oppor­tunity here at home in furthering our work with the underprivileged. in various local community projects, in the St. Vincent DePaul and other similar organizations. Two years on the mission has been a great start and we feel that our outlook on life, in terms of what we expect to ac­complish in a material way, has changed considerably. It's actually hard now to avoid being very, very much aware of those less fortunate than we in our own small circle of friends and acquaintances. With this awareness, we hope we will have a continued desire to assist these people in any possible way. Professionally speaking, the mis­sion offered a real challenge. I saw and treated many diseases that were only mentioned in passing while in school. On the other hand, the vast majority of patients had illnesses similar to those seen in the U.S.A. such as the most severe hypertension and hypertensive cardiovascular dis­ease. We treated many patients with cirrhosis secondary to vitamin de­ficiency states, post hepatitis, worm infestation and believe it or not, our 41 old frienc' aennec cirrhosis from nativ� �i: excess. Hepatoma and amebrc 11, abscess were frequently �een. Mari natives had what clin­r�ally appeared to be peptic ulcer disease. Diabetes and various types of renal disease  were quite common. The most frequently seen medical problems, however, were malaria and worms of all varieties. Filariasis was common and a few cases of lep�osy were seen. One of the most senous . problems in the pediatric agegroup_ rs measles. Due to the poor nutnt10nal state of the children all of the more serious side effects are s�en and give rise to a considerably high mortality rate . . o?stetr.ics, takes a good deal of the�1ss10n.anes time . Although the Sr�ter: m our hospital trained native m1dw1ves who took care of all nor­mal deliveries, there was much to be done in this area. Most native woi:nen �elivered at home with a native m'.dwife and the majority of o.ur hospital patients had complica­tions �f some kind. Abdominal pre­sentations of all kinds were seen arid a considerable number of cesareans were done each  month It · was not uncomm?n to have a patient at home with a ruptu.Fed uterus sec-ondary to d t · d ' . ys ocra an excessively prolonged labor. There is consider­�ble gfn-surgery for a person trained m t.hrs area. The most common surgr:al procedure was for inguinal h�m1a, although the physician whod'.d the general surgery in our hos­pital. performed many other ab­dommal and orthopedic operations. The most discouraging problem is the lack of laboratory facilities and the inability to carry out the nec-42 essary diag technicians the missiow ity to direc but also to natives in t'. part of Af X-ray equir nicians arc hospitals. - procedures. Lab 'Je a great help on only for their abil­,sist the physicians •J labs and train the Id. Hospitals in our are now obtaining t so that X-ray tech· ,CJ needed at some In our the closest denfot was 90 mi1 tway. Although the Sisters were· y short of M.D.'s, a dentist WOL have been received with even t ter appreciation. At least two or' mission hospitals in Eastern Nit 1 were ready or in the process get ting ready with the necessa1 1uipment to request a profession: entist. Most of · mission hospitalswould find i ry difficult to func· tion without , , assistance of grad· uate nurses. 11 urse in our missionarea would ; tlmost equirolent to an intern he, , t home. In our hos· pita! of 18( ,eds, we had three registered n es: one from the U.S.A. , one ·om Canada and a third from Ir , d. These girls take turns being c, call and are the first ones to eval 1te the condition of incoming pati 1 ts. Since the doctors ar e so busy ,he nurses are fre· quently asked ,o institute the initial treatment in .,uch cases as pneu· monia, renal infections, malaria, and worm infestations. In the maternity section they assist the midwives in normal deli\·cries. They perform minor operations such as doing a cutdown to start difficult I.V.'s andat times suture lacerations. Wewould have found it impossible_ to function in our particular hospital Lr ACRE QUARTERLYthese trained nurses from and America. e were frequently very busy at and it was impossible for the to see every patient imme­on arrival in the hospital. nurses became expert at recog­lllllng the symptoms of such com -11111 diseases as human tetanus and IDUld take care of the patient until lillcould be seen by the doctor. Each tine in our hospital was in charge • a large ward of patients and illlll1d make rounds daily . When the 6ictor arrived, she would sho w him tnly the patients that it was neces­ay for him to see, other minor poblems having already been taken Clle of on her own rounds. They 1IOUld also assist at times in the Out Patient Department seeing and giv­llgtreatment to some of the ·patients 111d referring the others to. the doc­lar. We had a nursing school of Ille 00-80 native students and the fldua te nurses assisted the Sisters with classes and instruction on the 1lllds. possible, CMMB should L ,ntinue its plan of allowing the prospt.ctive vol­unteer to contact other lay people either in the area or who have served a tour and have r eturned home. With the proper information from the mission and possibly other people who have returned from mis­sion assignments, I do not feel any particular type of orientation is needed. With the proper local infor­mation the person interested would be able to decide whether or not he would be willing to take on the assignment. I don't believe a long orientation is necessary or even practical for professional people who . have already spent many years preparing for their vocation. W()ur three registered nurses really � their hands full. Among thefar of them, we had supervisors the male and female medical � surgical wards, an X-ray tech­�d an anesthetist. In look­....._ over our two years I feel .;:- would have been a th�usand �ore difficult without our -.es. and European trained Most families will find two years at a mission a strenuous project in itself and I feel would object to a long pre-mission orientation. The proper information from the mission itself will aid the volunteer in his own personal or ientation from a pro ­fessional and domestic standpoint. My wife and I did try to have a spiritual orientation prior to leaving. During a five or six month period prior to leaving, we met with a priest once every week or so and had very informal discussions on various religious topics. We dis­cussed the sacraments, the Com­mandments, etc. , not with the purpose of teaching these subjects while on the mission, but more for our own personal development. We feel this did help orientate our thinking to the mission and helped us realize the real purpose behind our decision to accept a mission assignment in the first place. We feel it would be difficult for a We w OtlMB• ere . very happy withimct 5 pohcy. of putting us in filal co?tact with the mission hos­faand pnor to our departure and ftat dealtha  this helped prepare us a for our assignment. When b.T, 1966 43 "family" , the m1 ss10n withoutthis uncle,: ,1g spiritual motivatingforce. A r,, Jessional man may wellgo with strictly humanitarian mo­tives but the wife and children needmore than this to keep going. Theyneed to have a solid spiritual foun­dation so that they can more easilyendure the many domestic incon­veniences encountered on the mis­sion. This spiritual preparation maybe more for some than for others,depending on personal backgroundbut it can be done on a personalbasis with local assistance and neednot entail any special classes, etc.To be really effective on the missiona family needs this spiritual outlook.The thrill and novelty soon wear off and then you are left with the day by day grind of living andworking with many inconveniences and difficulties. A good healthy spir­itual outlook will help surmountmany otherwise difficult situations and problems. Contrary to common opinion,families do well on the missions.One of thr- ;est problems withwork overs,: , the outlying areasis the lack : tertainment. Largefamilies ne, ,d time to be home-sick or lone : and have a mucheasier time His regard than thesingle persc n our particular areawhere polyi ,. was so common, alarge Cathe family in action wasan educatic or the local natives.The wor is changing, as weknow, and n in Africa we feltperfectly sai nd with the help olthe Sisters · c able to live quitecomfortably. you eliminate fam-ilies from mission, you willeliminate a d many professionalpeople. Dur ) the great numberof years ne,. l to complete theirstudies, mar ,)hysicians and den:tists are ma1 l and have childrenbefore they 1 ever conside r  themissions as ; ,ible lay volunteers.Please feel c to have prospectivevolunteers w, to us for more de-tails and, of ,irse, encourageme�t in their dee; ;n to give of theirtime to the rr · �ions.ANNUAL MEMORIAL MASS - 8:00 a.m. - JUNE 29Celebrant: MosT REVEREND JOHN P. ConY, Dj)., Ph.D., J.C.D.(Old) ST. MARY'S CHURCHWabash and 9th AvenueChicago44 LIN ACRE QUARTERLY had a hemoglobin of grams% or less . · PHILIP Muu-10LLA'.';D, M.D. internship, completion of military!medical missions provide a . d of a Genera t sernce an one year . Iand very satisfying way O 1fe and the basic motivation that Practice residency, my w . . h h realized we were in a pecuh�r s1hte-led a physician to c oose t e uation to spend two years m t art. missions. . physician who has gained �he We knew there were poor m our knowledge of restorm_g own city and that there were ot?erto a certain number of his desperate sections in our own Umt��ts, realizes e·arly in his career States, but yet we felt that we cou f he has an obligation to con- best do our part in the _ context. o a certain part of his life to the Pope's appeal for Latm �menca� ·who cannot afford to pay. On consulting the Catholic Med obligation must be distributed ical Mission Board in New York,hw�y throughout the professi?�· ·1 were happy that the Church a do not know of any physicians iven us this opportunity to_ se�k have denied this and 'I know g t the fulfillment of this callmg mno one who is not making some ��e context of Her work which was Ina of contribution to the less begun by the clergy. This gave '_ls flltlmate. the thrill of dedicating our work mThe Lord chooses how and when the name of the Church. The Pl�ce­lle wishes a person to do his share. men t Service of the Catholic Medic;�The ways of the Lord are not to Mission Board, with mor_e . than 1 '81km once they are made known. requests on file for phys1c1ans, sug­So often what appears to be a hard- gested that we serve in El Progres�,ship will in fact be a real pleasure Honduras, at a clinic under t�e di�la that we are fulfilling His Will. rection of the Jesuits of the MissouriWe do have an obligation to have Province . . ·th111 open ear and to explore and We found ourselves in a city wi lllllider whether various modalities a population of 14,000,. with anClllfonn to our particular situation additional 17,000 people m �umer­kl life. That is after we have given ous peripheral grass hut villages .due consideration to our family and The United Fruit Company _P�o­lnancial obligations. You may care vided a fairly good standard of hvmglo think of the fulfillment of your and medical care for about 5,000 of11111 obligation in the light of what these 31,000 people. This left ustin be done. · with a potential 26,000 people for. Por this reason, it may be of some whom to care. h datlnst to recount my own personal The Honduran government a llperience in the missions. After established some clinics for these 451966

Catholics are a Little Slow in Getting Started ...

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Catholics are a Little Slow in Getting Started ...

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