Physicians With Heart: A Tribute

Few endeavors in Family Medicine have managed to touch the lives of so many people in such far-flung corners of the world as has Physicians with Heart, or PWH.

Physicians With Heart originally began as a part of Heart to Heart International. The concept for Heart to Heart originally began after discussions between Dr. Gary Morsch of Olathe, Kansas, and Dr. Dan Ostergaard of the AAFP on the need to help the failing health care systems of the former Soviet republics following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The two men originally had met in 1990 by coincidence, and later, in May of 1991, they traveled together representing different organizations on a trip to the former Soviet republics. Following this trip, Dr. Morsch founded Heart to Heart International. Then, through Dr. Ostergaard’s encouragement, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) became involved, and from this, the PWH project was born in 1993, with Heart to Heart, the AAFP, and the AAFP Foundation all playing major roles as founding partners in the organization.

During the first few years, the group only handled the delivery of pharmaceutical products. The amount of donations given was small, until the group received a large grant from the U.S. Department of State. This allowed PWH to expand into providing product updates, which consists of taking drugs into the receiving country and advising practicing doctors there on their use. A "Family Medicine symposium" (panel discussion with local physicians) has also been added, and has now evolved into two full days of product deliveries with Family Medicine symposiums being held in two large cities within the host country.

Over several years, other special projects have also been added as a regular part of each trip's itinerary. One--a very special project dear to the hearts of all involved in PWH--concerns children. In 1998, during a visit to an orphanage in frozen Siberia, delegation members discovered that the children there had no winter apparel. A collection was taken up to purchase coats for them, and from this a children’s project has evolved. Through this project, as many as four orphanages and special needs schools within the country are identified and supplied with clothes, mattresses, bedding, shoes, toiletries and parties for the children. In addition, the ALSO (Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics) Project has been added, which teaches local obstetricians and nurse midwives non-surgical intervention procedures for emergency deliveries.

When it began, only nine to 10 people traveled as part of the PWH annual trip. In 2005, when the group visited Tajikistan, 55 people went along, and a total of $8 million in donated U.S. pharmaceutical products and medical equipment was distributed.

For future airlifts, PWH will be focusing on setting up and supporting Family Medicine efforts and initiatives within the host countries. Although the group has on one occasion traveled outside of the former Soviet Union (visiting Vietnam in 2002), PWH has begun to refocus its efforts on three or four of the former Soviet Republics in order to concentrate resources, and to provide a more consistent, year-round impact. Eventually, the group also hopes to expand into Africa, selecting one country on the continent in which to provide aid.

For more information on Physicians With Heart, contact the AAFP Foundation at (913) 906-6000, ext. 4450, or Heart to Heart International at (913) 764-5200.  

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

• Dr. & Mrs. Dan Ostergaard
• Sandy Panther
• Lindsay Young

Past Airlifts

1993 St. Petersburg and Northwest Russia
1994 Crimea, Ukraine
1995 Armenia
1996 Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
1997 Georgia
1998 Siberia, Russia
1999 Uzbekistan
2000 Azerbaijan
2001 Vietnam*
2002 Moldova**
2002 Uzbekistan
2003 Kyrgyzstan
2004 Georgia
2005 Tajikistan
2006 Moldova

*This, the only PWH project to take place outside of the former republics of the Soviet Union, was privately funded as a special project to help develop Family Medicine in Vietnam.

**Airlift took place in Oct. 2001, but due to tensions in the region following the September 11 attacks on the U.S., delegation went in Feb. 2002.