One Physician’s Calling

One Physician’s Extraordinary Calling

James W. Srour, MD

@Srour

On the west coast of Africa lies the nation of Mauritania, a desert country covering an area about 8.5 times as large as Pennsylvania. Bordered by Mali, Senegal, Western Sahara and the Atlantic Ocean, it is a difficult environment with a population of about 4 million mostly Arab and French speaking people. With such a small population in this vast land, medical resources including doctors and healthcare workers are spread very thinly. There are approximately 2 physicians per 10,000 people and most of these are located near the cities, leaving a large percentage of the population with virtually no medical care.

Enter Dr. Beattie. At the age of 15 years-old, Amanda Beattie went on her first medical mission trip. What she experienced on that trip set the stage for the rest of her life. Her mission was to be a doctor for the express purpose of helping the underserved people somewhere in the world. During medical school, a rotation in Ghana further cemented her decision. For her, there was no turning back.

While she was in her general surgery residency, she began to consider sites for her practice. Unlike most of us, she was not looking for a wellequipped hospital in a nice city with good schools and a comfortable climate. She already knew what she wanted- a place where most would not go voluntarily, a place with little or no medical care was available.

After arriving in Mauritania, Dr. Beattie spent a year learning French and then Arabic. At that point, she was able to converse with the medical board to explain what she was trying to do and convince them to grant her privileges to work in their country. And convinced they were!

In the meantime, she found a village called Chinguetti, 300 miles from the coastal capital of Nouakchott. There she found a small hospital building with virtually no equipment and no physicians. Perfect! The dream job she had been looking for.

With no other medical facilities within a vast perimeter, Dr. Beattie found herself taking care of all manner of medical problems, including primary care. For any but the simplest of lab tests, she needed to have patients travel 2 hours each way by bus. If she needed x rays or more technical studies, patients had to travel 7 hours. Knowing that she would need to upgrade the hospital services, Dr. Beattie contacted charitable donors and was successful in setting up her own diagnostic and x-ray facility. She trained herself to use the equipment,

and then taught local people to take over these duties. Soon she was able to obtain equipment for the operating room and begin performing basic elective surgeries. Recently, a donor purchased a CT scanner which is scheduled for installation. Two more physicians are now working at the facility. The Hospital De La Fraternida has now become a self-sustaining community hospital with patients coming from all over the country to benefit from the excellent medical and surgical care.

In 2017, the president of Mauritania knighted Amanda Beattie, MD for her outstanding work on behalf of the country. He then requested that she take over as director of the Community Hospital at Oudane, a town forty miles from Chinguetti. Her MBA helped with this! She and her colleagues now run a training program for young physicians. Their goal is to attract more help for the villages. When does she sleep? Dr. Beattie tells me that the most common complaints she encounters are, not surprisingly, GI including heartburn, abdominal pain, diarrhea and the like. Unfortunately, colon and gastric cancers are also common, and are usually diagnosed by a palpable mass, meaning generally at late stage. There is, of course, no screening and resources for endoscopic evaluation essentially unavailable.

Here is where we can help. Dr. Beattie wants to build an endoscopy center at her hospital. I know it can be done as I was able to bring one to a small hospital in South India about 25 years ago, using donated equipment and the services of visiting gastroenterologists. There is a group of physicians planning a trip to Mauritania in the fall of 2021 (post vaccination) and we would like to collect and deliver equipment including scopes, light sources, biopsy forceps, snares cleaning equipment and supplies. Are you going to be upgrading your equipment in the foreseeable future? Or possibly closing a practice due to retirement? We would appreciate your consideration for this need. The value of the donated equipment is tax deductible through Dr. Beattie’s 501c organization. Monetary donations are also gratefully accepted.

Imagine how this could help the people of this almost forgotten land. You can help Dr. Beattie change the world!

Perhaps in the future you may consider volunteering for a shortterm mission trip? Think about it!

If you would like to donate equipment, please contact me.

James W. Srour, MD Jushla2@gmail.com

For monetary donations:

Health Outreach to the Middle East (H.O.M.E.). Attn: Mauritania Project 3403 Cartwright Road Missouri City, TX 77459