June 23, 2006
Thomas S. Durant, MD,
Fellowship holds annual reception
Compassion and action for underserved individuals around the world are
only two of the many wonderful characteristics that MGH physician Thomas
S. Durant, MD, possessed during his life. Durant spent 33 years at the
MGH as assistant director before he passed away from cancer in 2001. During
his tenure, he often traveled the world to relieve suffering in countries
including Cambodia, Albania, Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Croatia and Afghanistan.
His legacy lives on through the Thomas S. Durant, MD, Fellowship in Refugee
Medicine. This past year's Durant Fellowship participants shared some
of their experiences from around the world at the program's annual reception
June 7 in the Trustees Room.
Laurence J. Ronan, MD, director of the Durant Fellowship, welcomed back
Ann Kao, MD, of Internal Medicine and MassGeneral Hospital for Children,
who recently returned from serving in Rwanda. Kao described her
compelling experiences, serving as the sole physician in one of the
many refugee camps and establishing a program to address HIV/AIDS in Rwanda.
Ronan introduced the two new Durant fellows, Lucinda Langencamp, RN, of
MassGeneral Hospital for Children, who will serve in Rwanda, and Chanda
Plong, RN, of Bigelow 11, who will serve on the USNS Mercy hospital ship
in Indonesia and Cambodia.
The majority of the evening was dedicated to celebrating Indonesia's Abidin
Hospital Pulmonary Ward project established in memory of David Nyhan,
a longtime friend of the Durant Fellowship. David M. Systrom, MD, director
of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit Fellowship Training Program, and
Ednan K. Bajwa, MD, clinical and research fellow in the Pulmonary and
Critical Care Unit, presented their experiences working with this Indonesian
hospital. The Nyhan family, Norman Levanthal and other supporters of this
project were present to learn about the favorable impact this program
is having in the Aceh region of Indonesia.
For more information about the Thomas S. Durant, MD, Fellowship in Refugee
Medicine, visit www.durantfellowship.org
or contact Danica Mari, program coordinator, at (617) 724-3874.
From left, Kristian Olson, MD, MPH, the first Durant fellow; Sean Durant, Thomas Durant's son; Bajwa, Ronan, Kao and Systrom