Founder's Story

Beginning at a very young age it has always been my greatest ambition to become a Doctor and to make a difference in the world around me. This aspiration was inspired by the examples set forth by my grandmother who was a Nurse during World War II and by my mother who has dedicated her life to caring for patients as a Nurse Practitioner. Over the years + in the relentless pursuit of this goal, I have followed my interests and my heart all around the globe. They have led me to the coolest places + in turn I have met the most wonderful people of all nations, all religions + of all ethnicities.

Many of these places are where I have practiced medicine in resource limited settings. During my last year of residency I worked at a hospital in rural Uganda working with Global Emergency Care. I flew into Kampala via a stopover in Rwanda. From there, I took an 7 hour ride to our place of residence just outside Rukungiri. It was my home for a month while I was helping to train nurses to function as Emergency Care Practitioners to fill the doctor shortages in rural Uganda.

I was in the middle of treating several patients with Malaria when in walked a patient who was the victim of a hippopotamus attack. This was not something I was familiar with seeing at the hospital I regularly worked at in New York City. The family had to pay upfront for imaging before and XRAY was done and had to come up for the money for transport before the patient could be moved to another treatment facility that could surgically repair his arm. If they couldn’t come up with the money, the patient would remain on the ward waiting.

Throughout my time there I also witnessed several devastating injuries from Boda Boda accidents (Boda Boda is a local word for motorcycle). I can remember one specific patient whose presentation, injuries + clinical course has been imprinted on my mind. He was extremely young, in the prime of his life, and was not wearing a helmet when his Boda Boda crashed. He sustained significant head trauma and because we had no ventilators + no CT scanners + no neurosurgeons we were unable to intervene to save his life. Had his accident been in a neighborhood in New York City - the interventions could have been markedly different.

I was talking to another doctor, who was also working in rural Uganda, about my frustration in our capabilities while practicing in a resource limited environment. I can assure you the team I was working with cared for the patient with grace + compassion + did everything they could. The reality is that there are many places like this around the world where the access to care is limited. There are also rural locations in the United States that also have less access to specialist and procedures when compared to a big city like New York or Chicago.

This is one example of the many times that I recognized the huge opportunity to be part of the solution to provide additional resources to some of these communities around the world. It’s about being driven by purpose, taking action + doing something to improve lives of the amazing people who live in these areas. This has always been a founding principle of PASEO. We are committed to making an impact in global health through everything that we do. Read more about our impact here.

Remember to review the PASEO HEALTH GUIDE for your chosen destination prior to your departure for more detailed information.

You may also schedule a BESPOKE TRAVEL HEALTH CONSULTATION for a thorough travel health assessment prior to your trip.

Safe Travels!