Welcome to Medical Technology without Borders! Throughout my undergraduate career, I've always found myself particularly interested in health care, and the differences that exist in health care around the world. As a potential future Peace Corps volunteer, I also have a strong interest in the development of third world countries and the technologies that are slowly infiltrating the most remote corners of the globe. Throughout the semester, I plan to explore medicine in countries around the world, and contrast them with medicine in the United States. I will discuss how various medical technologies, including even simple things like X-Rays, have found their way into countries around the world that previously had no access to such advanced medical technology.

When choosing the topic for this blog, I knew that I wanted to include medicine in some way, and I was reminded of a book that I recently read entitled "Better" by Dr. Atul Gawande. In his book, Dr. Gawande describes what it was like for him, a United States trained physician, to enter into India and see the extreme differences in health care. He described the one decent hospital within many miles of the town he was visiting, and how people struggled to find adequate health care on a daily basis for problems much more serious than the common cold that Americans often visit the doctor about. The way that Dr. Gawande described the stark contrasts between Western medicine and medicine in a developing country such as India peaked my interest, and I am interested to find out more about medicine in other areas, including Africa and South America. I will look for any information available about the use of medical technology in countries around the world.

As I'm beginning this blog, my current knowledge of medicine around the globe is limited, and I look forward to expanding my horizons throughout the semester. Currently, I feel that America is incredibly advanced in medical technology compared to many countries around the world with the exception of China and much of Europe. However, as I said, I don't actually know many details about health care in other areas of the world, so I will be learning about the topic as much as the readers of this blog will. I look forward to exploring this topic further and being able to speak eloquently about the use of technology in medicine throughout the world. I hope you enjoy learning about my topic, and I look forward to sharing the information I find with each of you.