Naw Thit Paw is in charge of a new initiative that we have started this year at the Rain Tree Clinic. Hepatitis B is a big problem for people in low resource areas as it is possible to pass the infection from mother to baby at birth and the risk of transmission for babies exposed at birth without …

The last time Mitch and Caryl saw each other in person, without a digital chaperon, was on March 13 at the T-RAD clinic in Ler Doh, Myanmar. Caryl returned to Thailand while Mitch stayed to help the clinic prepare for the approaching pandemic. They thought their separation would be maybe a month, although Mitch, being …

January nights in the high jungles of Burma are cold.  Not the kind of cold that kills quickly, but the kind that slowly numbs as the blood flees limbs and stiffness seeps  into muscle and joint.  In this season, even sleep turns traitorous. Those who don’t have blankets get up in the middle of the …

Thailand… people usually take Thailand as a place for a getaway or a party. For me, it’s been totally different. My time in Thailand has been interesting and life changing for me.  I was born and raised in a Christian family in a Muslim country, Pakistan. Fortunately, I was introduced to the faith at a very early age.

Recently the Year 3 and 4 students at Rain Tree Clinic were faced with the challenge of multiple trauma patients within a very short period of time. One was a patient who fell out of a tree while cutting branches. He fell about 20 feet and struck his head on the rocky ground. The patient …

COVID-19 has changed much of our day to day lives all around the world. The separations in families, friends, and work places has made us slow down, learn different ways to communicate, and think about what we are thankful for.  Mitch and I were together in Ler Doh, Myanmar until March 13. I left to

There are probably very few people in the world who haven’t heard of COVID-19, which has been dominating news coverage and our social media timelines. EMA operates internationally, and this pandemic has crippled our ability to travel and severely impacted many parts of our program. With the first official cases of COVID-19 appearing in Myanmar …

In the Lab classroom at EMA’s T-RAD Clinic, Year 3 PA students are gaining confidence in the lab. Using four microscopes, including an Olympus CX 43 with a camera port for digital imaging, they can learn in real time as slides are prepared. …

Almost all families living in Karen state, Burma are subsistence farmers. Even when individuals are employed as teachers, medics, or shop keepers, they also have fields where they grow the rice that feed their families throughout the year. Last year, a remote area of Karen State, Burma experienced a plague of rats that led to a devastation …

January found most EMA staff at the EMA conference, held this year in Wattana Village in Mae Sot, Thailand. This annual event brings staff together for encouragement, teaching, and a chance to gather face to face. With offices in Thailand, Myanmar, and the US, it’s vital for EMA to get together and connect with staff …

“Time spent at the Rain Tree Clinic has changed me in different ways. Seeing patients at the RTC made me happy and confident. At first, I thought it wouldn’t be easy to communicate with the local people but with the passage of time we were able to build a good relationship with them. Working in a …

At the Rain Tree Clinic (RTC), electricity is only available from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Past this time the generator gets turned off. The team has to use headlights to walk around the campus and to check on the patients every few hours.  It is crucial for the staff and students to charge their …

At the Rain Tree Clinic (RTC), electricity is only on from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.  In case of emergency, when a patient needs to use the oxygen concentrator, the diesel generators will also be turned on. But the engineering technician will have to keep a close eye on the generators to make sure they

Lauren, EMA Year 1 Program Director shares her experience with 2019 EMA Year 1 students. For most of our students, this year in Chiang Mai is the first time that they have left Myanmar. They are living in a new culture (Thailand) and spending most of their class time studying in a new language (English). …

I’ve been thinking on the word “influence” recently and what it means; how everyone has influence – in our words, in our actions, whether good or bad. 

The definition of influence is the ability to have an effect on people or events.

I’ll be 62 years old this month and have had the opportunity and enjoyment of being around many different people and to live in several cultures. I have “influenced” many people …

Sai Sai Poe, EMA Year 4 Physician Assistant student, shares a patient story of a lady suffering with gastrointestinal bleeding due to a peptic ulcer.   “Naw Day Mu Wah is a 29 year old mother of six children. The oldest one is 8 years old and the youngest one is 5 months old. The youngest two …

Rainy season is in full-swing in Thailand and Myanmar. For us living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, that means beautiful greenery everywhere around; rainy, lazy days and the occasional slippery roads. For people in remote areas of Karen State, it means heavy rain all day and no roads at all – just mud, rocks and full-raging …

My name is Bwe Ah, I was born in La Boe Village, Papun Disrict (K5), Myanmar. I am 20 years old. I have five brothers and three sisters and I am the second to last youngest sibling. My parents are farmers, they grow rice and vegetables for our family’s needs. Unfortunately, in the rainy season, if …