VCOM 2021 Annual Report

ALUMNI VIEWS

Last Line of Defense in Togo

Sarah Cates, DO VCOM-Virginia, Class of 2007 Emergency Medicine, Hospital for Hope in Togo, West Africa Q: What inspired you to go to Togo and to be a part of Hospital for Hope? A: The first time I came to Togo, I saw these people doing their very best in the situation they were in, and it affected me. Nobody was skimping on anything; they were trying to give the best quality care they could in a place that didn’t have any, which inspired me. It

Q: What is your favorite thing about being there and helping the citizens of Togo?

A: The highs are very high, and the lows are very low. We lose a lot of patients, especially kids. It’s challenging all the time, but sometimes you get one of those kids that you don’t think will make it, and they do. We recently had a girl we didn’t know was going to make it, and she did. We kept trying everything possible, and then she woke up one day. The next day she was up walking around, and it is a miracle in a sense. I don’t use that word lightly, it doesn’t happen every day, but we cling to those moments when it does. A: The idea that it’s possible to do quality care in low-resource settings. There’s a huge global medicine push around America. So many programs are popping up for global health; residencies and fellowships are allowing it. Physicians get thrown into situations where they don’t know what to do because they haven’t been trained in a low- resource setting. They’ve only read about it. Figuring out how to practice good, high-quality care and in a low-resource setting is daunting if you don’t know what you’re doing or if you’ve never experienced it. However, our hospital does an excellent job of high-quality care in a very resource-poor setting. So it has been extremely encouraging to say it’s possible. I would love to help make that happen worldwide and to help people who already have a passion for global medical outreach. ■ Q: What keeps drawing you back to West Africa?

opens your eyes up to a different worldview when you’re in places that are lacking resources. So I have been going back and forth for about six years now. Q: What’s the most surprising thing that you’ve encountered in Togo that shows the difference of medical care?

Togo

A: We describe it as a “pure medicine,” which means you have your

stethoscope, the physical exam, a few lab tests and that’s all. You have to think outside of the box; there are no tests that will confirm what you think you know. Often, we’ll start treating one possible diagnosis, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll treat the other possible diagnosis. We have a plain x-ray and an ultrasound, and that’s it for imaging. We are the last line of defense; there is nowhere else for them to go. We’re in the northern rural part of Togo. So if they come to you, you’re it. If you think you can do something, you better do it because there is no calling in someone else. I’ve done things here that I would never dream of doing in the U.S.

Follow along with Dr. Cates: sarahgoestotogo.blogspot.com

120