“It’s always been a calling,” Dr. John Iredale says of his service missions abroad, and his recent trip to Green Pastures Hospital in Pokhara, Nepal – his longest to date – was no exception.
Th e catalyst was just a bit of print in a podiatry journal – “a small postage-sized ad that said, ‘Christian foot doctor needed to teach diabetic foot care in Nepal’” – but it caught the eye of a colleague who thought Dr. Iredale should know. He jumped at the chance.
His wife, Beverly, wasn’t surprised. She’d have preferred the mission be a bit shorter and would have liked to go as she had done on other trips, but their shared faith allowed her to see a bigger picture.
“We are so blessed in this country, and in this town, to have the icons of medicine that we have, and the wealth of knowledge and resources,” she says. “It’s not intended to serve just ourselves.”
Of course, Dr. Iredale couldn’t agree more. He admits there were surprises, like treating symptoms of leprosy as well as diabetes, but he encourages anyone with a shareable expertise to give this way.
“What I would tell the community,” he says, “is that if you have a skill, and you have a calling – if somebody says, ‘We need you for so-and-so,’ it is the most rewarding thing you can possibly ever do.”
Photos from Dr. Iredale’s time in Nepal
Dr. Iredale screens a young patient for structural issues that may put him at risk for pressure ulcers related to leprosy. Orthotics “give doctors something to work with that would help … get their patients well [without amputation],” he says. “That’s going to give patients more hope. I see that as my role in changing that part of the world.”
Photos from Dr. Iredale’s time in Nepal
The modification of a standard wheelchair provided benefits for both patients and doctors. Among other adaptations, Dr. Iredale explains, “We changed the back, so we could examine someone while they were lying down. To get an accurate cast, you have to sit and hold the foot in a certain way, and the chair enabled [medical personnel] to do that.”
Photos from Dr. Iredale’s time in Nepal
“It took about a month to build that chair – it was almost like building a drag car,” Dr. Iredale says with a chuckle. “It was really neat.” He hopes that other clinics will be able to build chairs like it from his model.
Photos from Dr. Iredale’s time in Nepal
Dr. Iredale worked with three Nepali orthotists – Dahn, Dingh and Santos. They built the orthotics press to make inserts for shoes, upcycling the rubber scraps left over from prosthetic arms and legs. “They were really skilled workmen,” Dr. Iredale says of his colleagues, “so I taught them how to make a cast and modify it to help [heal pressure ulcers].”
Photos from Dr. Iredale’s time in Nepal
When Dr. Iredale arrived in Pokhara, the hospital administrator asked him what he would like to do. He humbly responded, “I don’t know,” and instead waited for his path to be clear. During his 70 days there, he helped build an orthotics press and a podiatry chair for exams, and he shared his extensive knowledge of biomechanics with the hospital staff.
