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PrintWhat it's like: Deborah Jenkins
Anesthesiologist, Doctors Without Borders
World traveler. Anesthesiologist. People lover.
Deborah Jenkins uses all these words to describe herself, and all make her an ideal candidate for Doctors Without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization that provides urgent care to victims of war and disaster. The Tulsa native joined the organization in 2002.
Getting started: Jenkins’ first assignment with Doctors Without Borders was a surgery project in Sri Lanka in 2002.
“I went as an anesthesiologist,” she says. “Between 2002 and the present, I have been on eight or nine different projects.”
Current project: Jenkins is in Amman, Jordan, as a medical director. Many of the surgeries performed in Amman are reconstructive surgeries for Iraqi civilians hurt in the war.
“Our particular project is located here because, (1), it is too unsafe in Iraq to have this kind of project,” Jenkins says, “and, (2), we needed fancier technology to be able to run this kind of project.”
Many patients come with drug-resistant infections because they did not have access to health care or a previous surgery was performed under unhygienic conditions, a result of the war’s disruption of the health care system.
“Jordan is the closest peaceful country to Iraq that can support the type of surgeries that we do,” she says.
Culture shock: Jenkins speaks English when working with her fellow doctors but speaks Arabic when dealing with patients.
“My Arabic is improving, but it is very elementary,” she says. “Greetings in this country are very, very important. It goes a long way. In the West you can grumble and say, ‘Hello.’ (Here) All the greetings must come first. Formality in the culture is very important.”
What she’s learned: Jenkins encourages students to use language to learn about the world around them.
“Pay attention in language courses,” she says. “Don’t be so shy not to speak French or not to speak Spanish. These incredible skills will open up the world in terms of where you can go.”
