Family Practitioner Brings Health Care To Central Americans In Need

Dr. Scott Lamar (center) examines a baby at a makeshift clinic in a remote village in El Salvador. The child’s father (right) holds him, while a translator (left) helps Dr. Lamar with communications.

Dr. Lamar’s efforts have ranged from treating children in remote El Salvadoran villages to educating Honduran nurses on public health issues to emphasizing the basics of good hygiene to patients in Haiti. His travel has included several different types of trips. “Some were more academic, some humanitarian, some more outreach based,” he explained of the group excursions.

“Most of the times the facilities were bare bones: a skeleton of a building and sometimes a few rooms for an infirmary,” said Dr. Lamar describing the conditions facing the medical teams that went down to Central America. More often than not teams arrived with generous quantities of medications and supplies in tow. While Dr. Lamar has treated many, many patients with acute illnesses, he noted, “You cannot manage chronic illness like diabetes and hypertension. Sometimes you can’t offer them very much, and showing care and compassion on a person to person level is all you can do.”

Being exposed to the plight of impoverished people in impoverished countries has been a sobering experience for Dr. Lamar. “The need is so overwhelming. While you can do a considerable amount even with limited resources, it’s hard to make a big difference long term without a sustained effort,” he said. He added, “The toughest thing for me is seeing the malnourished and homeless children.”

Through his trips Dr. Lamar has developed a genuine appreciation for the men, women, and children who often have to walk long distances and wait for hours to receive care. “They’ve taught me about resiliency and strength and courage,” he said. The patients in Central America have also made him more mindful of how he uses resources back in the United States. “They remind me of how much we take for granted in this country, like a place to live, food to eat, medical care. All those things are not easily found in developing countries,” he said.

Although Dr. Lamar has no immediate plans for another trip, it’s only a matter of time before he heads back to Central America or sets out to another region in the world where access to health care is scarce. What draws him back again and again is a belief that his volunteer involvement is a responsibility he needs to uphold. “I feel that to whom much is given much is required, and that I have been given much in the way of resources, talents and skills. This is one way I can give back, and one of the things that God wants us to do.”

Reprinted from Connections newsletter, April 2003

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