Sask. doctor makes unusual house call while volunteering in southern Africa
USask graduate Dr. Ryan Meili (BSc’00, MD’04) and his wife, pediatrician Dr. Mahli Brindamour, took their two kids along for a six-month volunteer placement in the southern African nation of Lesotho, where they worked with tuberculosis patients
By Jason Warick, CBC NewsSaskatoon doctor Ryan Meili (BSc’00, MD’04) recently made an unusual house call. Or more accurately, a horse call.
Earlier this year, Meili and his wife, pediatrician Mahli Brindamour, took their two kids along for a six-month volunteer placement in the southern African nation of Lesotho, where they worked with tuberculosis patients through the group Partners in Health.
When one man didn't show up on time for his appointment at the hospital, Meili asked around and learned the man had to travel 40 kilometres on horseback through steep mountain passes.
So Meili and the team hopped in an SUV, bumping along a treacherous, rocky road where they met the man halfway to give him his medication and do a checkup.
"We ended up doing the clinic visit on the side of a mountain, with the patient still on horseback, and just figured that was the best way to reach him where he was," Meili said.