11 Countries, Countless Lessons
Each stamp in my passport represents lives touched, lessons learned, and stories worth sharing. From the deserts of Chad to the cities of Europe, my global health journey proves that medicine is a universal language with beautiful local dialects.
The Journey That Shaped a Doctor
Over two decades, I've practiced medicine where maps blur and humanity shines brightest. This isn't just about the countries visited or the crises faced—it's about discovering that healing transcends borders, that every culture holds medical wisdom, and that the best doctors remain eternal students.
My global experiences transformed me from a physician treating symptoms to a healer understanding systems, from a Western-trained doctor to a student of humanity's collective medical knowledge. Each destination added layers to my practice, each patient taught lessons no textbook could provide.
Explore My Global Health Journey
A Medical Atlas: Work in 11+ Countries →
🌍 Countries & Contributions
From forensic medicine in the Netherlands to refugee health in Chad, discover how each nation shaped my medical philosophy. This comprehensive atlas details my work across:
🇳🇱 Netherlands • 🇬🇧 United Kingdom • 🇺🇸 United States • 🇮🇳 India • 🇳🇵 Nepal • 🇧🇮 Burundi • 🇸🇸 South Sudan • 🇸🇩 Sudan • 🇺🇬 Uganda • 🇹🇩 Chad • 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
"Every country taught me something my medical school couldn't—that medicine adapts to geography, culture shapes healing, and innovation blooms in constraint."
Oure Cassoni: Where Humanity Meets Medicine →
📖 Stories from the Chad-Darfur Border
In 2006, I served as the sole doctor for 27,000 Darfur refugees at Oure Cassoni camp. This experience transformed me from physician to witness, teaching profound lessons about resilience, dignity, and the true meaning of humanitarian medicine.
Key Stories:
- Fatima's sacrifice and transformation into a healer
- The traditional healer who became my teacher
- The night a sandstorm couldn't stop hope
- How blogging became a form of medical advocacy
"In refugee camps, you learn that dignity is the most important medicine. You can lack antibiotics, even basic supplies. But if you rob people of dignity, you've failed as a healer."
Read the Refugee Camp Stories →
Beyond Emergency Response →
🚁 Building Sustainable Health Solutions
My humanitarian work evolved from emergency response to building systems that outlast crises. Discover how sustainable medical interventions create lasting change through:
Mission Types:
- Emergency medical response protocols that save lives
- Health system rebuilding in post-conflict zones
- Training programs that multiply impact exponentially
- Disease outbreak investigations combining science with cultural wisdom
- Maternal and child health programs honoring traditional knowledge
"True humanitarian medicine creates lasting change, not temporary relief. Success means becoming unnecessary because communities can heal themselves."
Read about Humanitarian Missions →
Medicine Is My Passport →
✈️ Health Insights from Six Continents
Beyond formal missions, my travels reveal health wisdom in unexpected places—from Himalayan monasteries to Scandinavian forests. This chronicle explores how wanderlust and medical curiosity create profound insights:
Discoveries Include:
- Traditional diagnostic methods that outperform technology
- Community healing practices validated by neuroscience
- Indigenous pharmacology sophisticated as modern labs
- Social policies that are better medicine than pills
"A Greek grandmother's kitchen contained more preventive medicine than many pharmacies. Travel teaches that healing wisdom exists everywhere—if you're humble enough to look."
The Common Thread
Across all these experiences, universal truths emerge:
- Health is cultural: Medical practice must honor local contexts
- Stories heal: Narrative medicine works in every language
- Innovation comes from constraint: Limited resources spark creativity
- Community is medicine: Isolation kills, connection heals
- Dignity matters most: Respect is the foundation of all healing
Current Impact
Today, these global experiences infuse every aspect of my practice in Amsterdam:
- Refugee populations receive culturally informed care rooted in camp experiences
- Public health initiatives apply lessons from 11 different health systems
- Medical education incorporates traditional wisdom alongside modern science
- COVID-19 response drew on outbreak management across continents
- Daily practice weaves global healing traditions into evidence-based medicine
Upcoming: "Prescriptions from a Wandering Doctor"
My forthcoming photo essay book will document health practices worldwide, sharing visual stories of healing across cultures. From Amazon pharmacy gardens to Arctic adaptation strategies, this project captures medicine's beautiful diversity.
The Invitation
These pages aren't just my story—they're an invitation to see medicine differently. Whether you're a healthcare professional, a patient, or simply curious about how health manifests globally, I hope these experiences inspire you to:
- Question assumptions about "right" ways to heal
- Appreciate the medical wisdom in your own culture
- Recognize health as humanity's shared challenge and triumph
- Support global health equity and cultural medical preservation
"Medicine gave me a passport to the world. The world gave me a new understanding of medicine. This exchange continues with every patient, every journey, every story shared."
Start Your Journey
Choose where to begin exploring:
- The Medical Atlas → - For those interested in global health systems
- Refugee Camp Stories → - For those drawn to humanitarian narratives
- Humanitarian Missions → - For those considering humanitarian work
- Travel Chronicles → - For those seeking medical wisdom worldwide
Each link opens a window into how medicine transcends borders, how healing happens everywhere, and why the best doctors never stop learning.