Richard Heinzl, MD, founder of Doctors Without Borders-Canada, will present a talk, “Lessons From Abroad: The Opportunities of a Borderless World,” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 8, at Graham Chapel on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
The event is co-sponsored by WUSTL’s Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy; the Gephardt Institute for Public Service; and the School of Medicine. It is free and open to the public.
Heinzl founded the Canadian chapter of Doctors Without Borders in 1990 soon after completing his medical degree. He was inspired by a chance meeting with Belgian doctors who were working on behalf of a French organization called Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Uganda. Heinzl was in Africa for an elective medical school course in Kenya at the time.
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders, founded by doctors and journalists in France in 1971, is the world’s leading independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, disasters and exclusion from health care in close to 60 countries worldwide. The organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
Heinzl has volunteered on MSF missions to Cambodia, Turkey and Iraq. Recently, Heinzl has been involved with online technology companies to provide medical information and second opinions via the Internet
In his talk, Heinzl will share his experiences in the high-tech world of the West and the war-torn, rural and poverty-stricken areas of the world.
He will discuss global citizenship as a necessity for survival in today’s business world and provide specific examples of the skills and attitudes that spell success in life and business in a multimedia presentation.
Online registration is requested but not required and available at wc.wustl.edu/events. For more information, call the Weidenbaum Center at (314) 935-5630.