David Walton MD
David Walton MD was one of the first candidates to be selected for the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine. He has been working with Partners in Health since 1997 and is currently a resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He divides his time between Boston and Haiti.
How did you come to make the decision to work with resource-poor communities in the US and abroad?
I had taken a year off while I was in medical school to work in Haiti at one of the Partners in Health expansion sites with Serena Koenig (a physician who is also now based in the DSMHI). When I came back, I knew I didn’t want to be away from Haiti for three more years. Back then, there was something called the “HEMI-Doc program” but it was set up mostly for those who wanted to do independent research. Paul Farmer and Jim Kim redefined it. Evan Lyon [with whom Dr Walton shares a residency] and I were a perfect pairing and a perfect match for the program, so we expanded it to four years with half our time spent in Haiti.
What was it that motivated you to work in Haiti in the first place?
I met Paul Farmer the second week of my first year of medical school and became his research assistant. Going into medical school, I already had an idea, a sense of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to use my medical degree in resource-poor communities. I am very privileged to have found Paul Farmer. I am privileged to have found Partners in Health and Brigham and Women’s and that I am able to thrive here.
How has the Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine helped you to pursue these personal and professional goals?
I knew that if I wanted in fact to be an advocate for the poor that I needed more tools at my disposal and a broader perspective, a broader view of options for the poor, and a more global sense of advocacy. It is hard to be only a foot soldier because the nature of the work involves policy, and I needed to fill the gaps in my education.
Traveling between Boston and Haiti each month, what are some of the challenges you face in switching between the two environments?
The emotional upheaval of alternating a month in Boston and a month in Haiti is the most difficult part. Here, everything is at your disposal, at the click of a mouse. In Haiti, the resources are limited. You have to ride in a tap tap (truck) full of boxes, beans and goats just to get to a patient’s house so you can treat him. It is very difficult. The medicine is the same, it is just the path that is different. And the information you gain in one place compliments your experience in the other.
What are some of the challenges the Division of Social Medicine faces in advancing global health?
The challenges we face are central to our mission, which is redefining academic medicine so that medical centers can create a pathway for people to be more involved in global health. It is still difficult for motivated people to find tools to serve the poor and to serve the poor in an all-encompassing way. It is still a challenge for most physicians to find time to do this type of work.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?
The patients. Definitely the patients. In spite of the fact that I am constantly back and forth between Boston and Haiti each month, I make sure that I see the same patients and come back to them again and again.
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