Dr. Kelly Hildebrand is an American whose work in the medical field has finally brought her to Aweil, South Sudan with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders. Dr. Hildebrand’s prior positions have left her well versed in different medical care techniques. These include acting as a student leader for mission trips to Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, completing her residency training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Medical Center Dallas, and serving on the medical staff for Camp TLC for children with spina bifida (permanently disabling birth defect due to a partially open spinal column).
Dr. Hildebrand is no beginner.
What started as an email sent to family and friends upon Dr. Hildebrand’s arrival in South Sudan turned into an informative blog – First Mission, Lasting Impressions – for the world to read on MSF’s website. Here, Dr. Hildebrand shares her daily struggles, triumphs, concerns, emotions, and anything else that goes along with working to heal the sick in disaster zones. While statistical information alone allows people to understand the extensive work that MSF accomplishes in third world countries, Dr. Hildebrand’s blog hits home with personal accounts of treating suffering children and adults. Emotion is more powerful than any number.
Information reduces ignorance. It is as simple as that. Dr. Hildebrand designed First Mission, Lasting Impressions for that purpose. The blog appeals to budding medical students and professionals in the medical field, along with those not so affiliated. The posts are filled with medical jargon. But each potentially puzzling term is followed by a short parenthetical statement describing it for those not exposed to the lingo on a regular basis.
Dr. Hildebrand accompanies her posts with possibly one image of a patient. But otherwise, she relies solely on the power of her stories to relay her message. As a pediatrician/blogger, Dr. Hildebrand writes candidly. You will find no sugar-coated descriptions. This most likely stems from her career as a doctor where filling out patients’ charts requires short, direct statements. Dr. Hildebrand also writes with a powerful tone that does not talk down to the audience, as some professionals do. Rather, her words entice the audience. Her posts are about real world events. Dr. Hildebrand’s emotional attachment to her work and patients in Aweil is evident in her posts. “Our obstetric team brings many healthy babies into the world every day. But I still struggle with that one, the one that does not make it.” This excerpt comes from Dr. Hildebrand’s post, “The Perfect Storm,” written July 23, 2014. It illustrates the pressure Dr. Hildebrand places on herself to do everything in her will power to help the less fortunate – the people who must travel for two or more days just to receive medical assistance at a hospital.
Comments pop up sporadically under Dr. Hildebrand’s posts. She does not reach a vast audience based on the number of comments left. But the readers that do come to learn more from First Mission, Lasting Impressions write about their admiration and support for Dr. Hildebrand and the entire MSF’s efforts.
First Mission, Lasting Impressions is just one blog in a series written by MSF staff members stationed all over the world. These posts are, again, intended to reduce ignorance of medical need in disaster zones. Treating patients, young and old, impacts these doctors in a way most could never imagine. The MSF staff devote their time and best efforts to save strangers all until they reach the brink of exhaustion and then wake up the next day and do it all over again.
So how far do Doctors Without Borders go? Well, now that they have entered the blogging world, the answer is as far as the Internet can take them.
Click here to read more about Dr. Hildebrand’s blog.
Katie, I think you nailed the description of Dr. Hildebrand’s blog. Using the link that you attached, I looked at some of her posts and agree that she explains herself well and never talks down on her audience, no matter who they may be. I also have heard nothing but good things about Doctors Without Borders. I spoke to a senior here at Penn State that does something similar. Personally, I am majoring in and am interested in engineering. The senior that I spoke to, Jenn, was a part of Engineers Without Borders and built bridges in Panama. It is interesting to see how everything is connected in some way, no matter what field one may be in. Great blog post Katie!
-Rebecca H
I thought this blog was great! I have always been interested in Doctors without Borders, so this post definitely caught my eye. I really liked the picture at the top of the post. I think it really grasps the audience’s attention. It is an extremely powerful picture and makes you feel like you want to know more about what is going on. The blog post itself was full of information and gave specifics, which I enjoyed. Also, it wasn’t boring to read either. I never lost interest while reading. The writing style and vocabulary, with some hints of sarcasm, defiantly held me in. The only thing wrong is that at the bottom where it says to read more about Dr. Hildebrand’s blog, there is nothing to click on.
Katie, your post describing Dr. Kelly Hildebrand’s work was extremely well-written and informative. It is easy to tell that you have a strong interest in this topic. Overall, your sentences were varied but clear and sounded professional. The link to the site worked and was well-placed in the article.
Very in-depth and informative! The image and the link are used well, and the website theme is a nice touch.
Hey Katie, this blog seems very interesting and I am glad to see that other people take interest in such matters. Throughout my High School career I worked on earning my pilot’s license in order to be a part of the Doctors Without Borders program. I trained in things such as scouting and reconnaissance. I’m a big supporter of the program and think that it is a great opportunity for people to assist and give back in a unique way.