 A Profile of Evan Lyon, MD
For the past eight years, Dr. Evan Lyon’s commute has been a long one—from Boston to Haiti. Once a teacher in Port au Prince, Lyon is now a resident in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who splits his time between Boston and the seven Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante sites located in Haiti’s Central Plateau.
When asked about the hardships of traveling between a well-established tertiary care hospital in the United States and clinics in rural Haiti, Dr. Lyon notes that the most challenging aspect is being emotionally in two places at once. “Life and death are simply more fragile in Haiti.” When in Boston, he is constantly worrying about his friends and patients in Haiti. He finds that adjusting to the differences in medical practice between the two locations is not nearly as difficult as adapting emotionally.
But in the face of difficulty, Dr. Lyon is rejuvenated by stories of survival. He recalls a particular diabetic young man. With few tools and only one type of insulin at hand, Dr. Lyon and his resourceful team figured out how to get the young patient’s blood sugar under control. Today, the patient has gained weight and his blood sugar remains stable.
In Haiti, as at all PIH sites, local clinicians and community health workers meet most of the patient care responsibilities. Dr. Lyon praises the Haitian medical staff members who live in the community for being on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. To Dr. Lyon, the most rewarding aspect of working in Haiti is being a part of this team of remarkably hardworking and dedicated individuals. Testament to their central role is the fact that that when American physicians were kept out of the country last year as a result of political strife, the clinic doors remained open. During the February 2004 coup d’état in Haiti, the Zanmi Lasante clinics continued to function at full capacity and not a single patient missed a dose of medication.
As for Dr. Lyon, he knows that he will always continue returning to Haiti. “Haiti is too horrible, too close to walk away from.” He hopes to continue supporting the Haitian population, and more importantly, their potential for getting better.
|
 Send Feedback to: Sara Cleveland at scleveland@partners.org
This page was last modified on 2/10/2008
|
