A Louisiana neurosurgeon, Thomas Flynn, MD, has traveled to subtropical Southeast Asia on humanitarian missions more than two dozen times since 1985. The climate and landscape he encounters are similar to his home state but the neurosurgical environment is a world apart.
The back country of Thailand has one neurosurgeon for five million widely scattered villagers. Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam has three or maybe four x-ray machines in the entire city. Laos has no CTI or MRI machines whatsoever. The amount of aneurysm clips, self-retaining retractors and other medical equipment taken for granted in the United States are in comparably short supply, too.
Dr. Flynn’s mission has been to transport desperately needed medical supplies to Southeast Asia. While there, he teaches, makes rounds and works in clinics and hospitals. He also arranges for Southeast Asian doctors and medical students to come to Baton Rouge on fellowships. The goal has been to empower the neurosurgical community in Southeast Asia by teaching them the latest skills and technologies.
The 15 medical personnel that have come to the United States on fellowships either work at Dr. Flynn’s Neuro-Medical Center or at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.
Many neurosurgeons provide free care, volunteer in deprived communities or otherwise give back to society. Dr. Flynn does it on a grander scale than most. The AANS saluted Dr. Flynn for his philanthropy when he was awarded the association’s 1999 Humanitarian Award.
He recently rescued 60 wheelchairs fated for a garbage dumpster and had them shipped to Thailand. One nation’s trash is another’s treasure. Dr. Flynn has a sharp eye for discarded or obsolete equipment and supplies that work just fine in less prosperous nations such as Laos and Vietnam.
The equipment he sends to Southeast Asia is not always free. And the shipping costs are steep. Dr. Flynn estimates he has spent more than $1 million out of his own pocket supplying overseas hospitals and clinics with surgical microscopes, stereotactic CRW frames, double J catheters and myriad other items.
His generosity of time and money has won him friends in high palaces. He once spent a day with Queen Sirikit of Thailand at the palace in Bangkok. King Bhumipol and her both have conferred honors on Dr. Flynn. He first came to the attention of the queen when he donated supplies to a hospital she sponsors.
U.S. medicine is a welcomed import in Thailand, says Dr. Flynn. “They are very keen to emulate American medicine. They use American textbooks. The doctors understand English very well, if not speak it,” he says.
Vietnam is another story. The medical community has received him warmly, but authorities remain suspicious of Americans. In the 1980s, soldiers stopped the bus he was on and jabbed him with their rifle butts. Fortunately, Dr. Flynn was traveling with the then-vice minister of health, a former Viet Cong general, who convinced the soldiers to calm down.
Dr. Flynn first visited Southeast Asia at the suggestion of a longtime U.S. missionary, whose daughter worked in his Baton Rouge practice. Dr. Flynn’s mission is more than medical. He is accompanied on his trips by a Christian missionary, who doubles as his translator.
“I feel very strongly about my faith,” he says. “I don’t stand on the corner and wave a Bible. But we make people aware that what we’re doing is an act of Christian charity. We don’t have mass rallies but, hopefully, the seeds are planted.”
Neurosurgeon Frank Culicchia, MD, of New Orleans sometimes accompanies Dr. Flynn on his trips.
Last year Dr. Flynn began the Southeast Asian Medical Aid and Teaching Foundation to formalize his charitable outreach. One of his goals is to regularly send neurosurgeons to Southeast Asia to teach. With enough assistance, eventually the neurosurgical community in Southeast Asia would no longer need charitable physicians such as Dr. Flynn.
Those interested in assisting Dr. Flynn’s efforts can reach him at (225) 769-2200 or at [email protected].