Give back now, and if there's change left over, pay it forward. This is a lesson I learned in Grenada, magic island. "And now we have a boy in a life size shark costume holding a fishing rod and carrying a fish-bowl full of his bait" down the catwalk while the tune of Jaws is playing on a CD in the background. This was my youngest brother, Trevor, putting up with another one of my hair-brained ideas, to have a Pet Beauty Pageant to raise money for the local humane society. Trevor, who has the voice of an angel and gives me my own private concert in church on Sundays as I listen with wonder standing next to him during the hymns, who can knock a soccer-ball past David Beckham, and who can put Rafael Nadal to shame on the tennis court, was dressed in a life-size shark costume to display his pet, a tiny gerbil by the name of Pepper, as his bait on a Friday night in a beauty pageant versus hanging out with his teenage friends playing football or doing whatever else teenage boys do. Anything but be dressed in a costume on stage participating in an animal beauty pageant. Most contestants entered their little fluffy dogs or cats, not their rodent. But Trevor's beloved little pet was a gerbil. And so a gerbil he entered. And Trevor and Little Pepper won the People's Choice Award that night. I wouldn't say the Beauty Pageant was a huge success as most of my parents' friends came to the event and donated pity money so that I wouldn't flop entirely on my face. But the opportunity to give comes often, in all shapes and sizes if your eyes are open. I was so proud of my little brother for giving of himself and his pride to me for that one evening. Giving isn't solely achieved monetarily. Yes, I do think it's important to put a penny in the cup of the person sitting on the corner in all types of weather. Is it a scam? Maybe. But if they're sitting on the corner, they probably need the penny more than I do. Maybe I can give a little. Besides, who am I to decide who needs the penny and who doesn't.
Be the change you wish to see in the world (Gandhi). "Why are you giving free shots to the dogs and cats? What about me? What about the people on this Island?!?" an irate Grenadian lady shouted at me during an animal vaccination clinic during my second term of veterinary school. And she was right. Here we were supplying free veterinary care to the animals on the island when some of the people could hardly put food on the table. And that's when the brain-storming began. I decided we needed to have a combined free human and animal healthcare clinic. Maybe the man back in Wyoming who filled up my gas tank for free when we were stranded in the middle of nowhere had left a resounding melody somewhere inside of me. Angels can present anywhere at any time and lead you in the right direction. I then formulated a plan to get the medical students, clinicians, veterinary students, veterinarians, and public health students to come together and perform a "One Health One Medicine Clinic". At this clinic medical students would perform physical exams, blood sugar tests, eye exams, hearing checks, blood pressure checks, breast exams, sickle cell anemia tests, and HIV testing on human patients. The public health students would help to relate the importance of healthy living, food safety, and hygiene. And the veterinary students would perform physical exams, deworming, nail trims, flea treatments, and give sponsored vaccinations to the animals. I researched all of the zoonotic diseases on the island (diseases people can get from their pets and other animals) and distributed the information in easy-to-read pamphlets to the "One Health One Medicine Clinic" attendees. My other middle brother, Brandt, equally freely devoted his time to help create and maintain a website for the clinics so that people could access the dates, times, and locations of the island clinics. Brandt, the aerospace engineer genius who has no problem "fixing" all of my technical problems, websites included. I also supplied free collars, leashes, dog food, t-shirts, games, toys, and people food for the people and animals at the clinic. Why? Because we aren't put on this earth to only suck up resources and not give anything back. Leave a small carbon footprint but a library of ideas and good influences via leading by example. Grenada had given so much to me, and I wanted to give something back to it. Doctors of Veterinary Medicine are medical professionals whose primary responsibility is to protect the welfare of animals AND PEOPLE. All species are interrelated. Veterinary or medical knowledge gained in one species benefits the others. "One Health One Medicine" is the convergence of human, animal, and ecosytem health. The benefits include the detection and control of zoonotic diseases, biomedical research, drug discovery and development, emergency preparedness and response, food safety and biosecurity, the safety assessment of chemicals and products, and using animal sentinnels for environmental health hazzards. The list goes on. The clinics have been passed down to younger students at St. George's and still continue to operate today. But "One Health One Medicine" is not a new concept and has been around since the first vaccination attempts by Jenner to erradicate Smallpox. But now more than ever it's important to work together across the medical and public health professional fields in a united effort to approach and combat emerging diseases. Giving back and paying it forward. Paying it forward to the future generations to eliminate diseases and live a healthier lifestyle. Plant a seed...and "be the change you wish to see in the world
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