See the World as a Small Town Doctor

Chanda McDaniel, MD U.S. Department of State

The PBS series, Doc Martin, tells the comic tale of a London surgeon finding himself in a small English village with a family practice operating from his home. As a Mizzou medical student, I found myself in a similar situation training with an Irish physician whose home practice was the beating heart of the village. He was an integral part of the community. Not only as a doctor, but as friend and neighbor to all his patients.

Today, I serve in that same role at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. As a Foreign Service Regional Medical Officer, I lead a robust family practice medical team whose relationship to the Embassy community is like that of the small town doctor. Part diplomat, part family doctor, and part emergency preparedness planner, my colleagues and I provide the same standard of care our American patients are accustomed to back home. I treat common chronic and acute conditions to uncommon threats such as malaria, dengue, tuberculosis and other diseases prevalent in many countries overseas but rarer in the United States.

My career path began as a Washington University undergraduate who was interested in the wider world and went on a mission trip to Liberia. It was the first time I truly became interested in medicine. I worked with a physician in a rural clinic and saw diseases such as malaria and elephantiasis I had never seen before. The need was great and I was inspired by the commitment and determination of the Liberian doctor caring for her community.

While in residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Saint Louis University, I continued to pursue my passion for life overseas through seasonal work at mission hospitals in Kenya, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. I considered working full-time with Doctors Without Borders and similar organizations; but, I could not see how I could balance family life and meet my financial obligations. After a rewarding career in Denver that encompassed urgent care, pediatrics, adult medicine, and a pediatric faculty appointment, wanderlust beckoned me again.

To me, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to mix things up in my medical career while providing extraordinary opportunities for my family.

My brother by now was a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State and encouraged me to apply. To me, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to mix things up in my medical career while providing extraordinary opportunities for my family. I would be able to practice overseas in an American environment still supported by a strong network of colleagues in Washington, D.C. and the medical community in the cities in which I served.

My day as a Regional Medical Officer can be spent suturing a wound, evaluating ear pain, attending a country team meeting with the Ambassador and other heads of section, visiting a patient in the hospital, organizing a blood drive, leading a mass casualty drill, or touring a new local hospital. I have had the privilege of seeing patients born in countries all over the world and followed them through their first few years of life, then meeting them in another country and becoming their doctor again. I have also had the privilege of caring for patients working abroad and then again in the United States undergoing treatment for cancer. Rarely, I have attended an autopsy when a patient dies overseas and then comfort family nearby and afar.

Preparing for a mass casualty drill at U.S. Embassy, Amman, Jordan

For the past 11 years, my family and I have lived and served in Colombia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Jordan, Washington, D.C., and the Philippines. Off duty, we have scuba-dived in the Red Sea, biked along Bangladesh’s rivers, taken boat tours in Qatar, ridden camels in Jordan’s Wadi Rum, visited coffee farms in Colombia, seen West End musicals in London, ridden the elevator to the top of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building) and much, much more.

Not only have I been enriched personally and professionally, but my husband has continued his music teaching career at local American schools as well. Our children have flourished, too, shaped by the unique experiences and people they have met. It continues to be a rewarding and challenging career. One I would encourage other Missouri physicians to consider by becoming that American small town doctor in a cosmopolitan world.

Chanda McDaniel, MD, an American board certified internist and pediatrician, is a Foreign Service Regional Medical Officer at the U.S. Embassy Manila, Philippines. For more information on U.S. Department of State medical careers, visit https://careers.state.gov/MED or contact Missouri Diplomat in Residence Amanda Johnson at DIRCentral@state.gov.