Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Dr. Richard Heinzl
Lessons from Abroad: Opportunities in a Borderless World

Dr. Richard Heinzl is the founder of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières Canada (MSF), the Nobel Prize-wining humanitarian medical relief organization. His travels and work have taken him to over 75 countries including Cambodia, Iraq and Mozambique where he was an MSF volunteer. Heinzl studied medicine at McMaster University Medical School in Hamilton, Canada, a program renowned for its innovative approach to medical education. He later completed a Master of Public Health degree at Harvard and a Master of Science at Oxford. Based in Oakville, Ontario, Heinzl’s current focus is eHealth. He was recently CEO of CardioView Inc., a technology company that utilizes the Internet to advance research and image communication in the field of cardiology and formally, he was the founder and CEO of MediSpecialist.com, a web-based medical consultation service. He is the holder of numerous awards and honors including the Top 40 Under 40 Award and an Honorary Doctorate from his Alma Mater, McMaster. He is a frequent speaker at national and international events and, earlier this year, published his memoir Cambodia Calling: A Memoir from the Frontlines of Humanitarian Aid, a coming of age story about his early travels in Africa and Asia. Click here to order a copy of Dr. Heinzl’s memoir, Cambodia Calling.

Presentation Preview

Heinzl’s travels have taken him to more than 75 countries including Iraq, Mozambique and Cambodia where he worked with Doctors Without Borders. Using anecdotes, perspectives and lessons from his work abroad he explores the paradox of affluence and makes the point that travel should be part of everyone’s education. In his presentation, Heinzl will detail the remarkable stories of people caught up in war and poverty and argue that we are sleepwalking through a catastrophe and that students from all disciplines have a role to play. He will also reveal how borderless the world truly is and show how this has brought about unprecedented change that demands innovation and creative thinking from students. In concluding, he will recount events and lessons from his own education, explore materialism and ask the question “Who is truly rich or poor?”

Discussion Questions

1. How would you define wealth and poverty?
2. How would you define war and peace?
3. How does war affect human health?
4. How will technology and innovation affect your career in the next five years? Ten years? Twenty years?
5. Dream up an international travel experience that would compliment your education.
6. What could you learn from someone living in sub-Saharan Africa?
7. What role do you play in terms of international war and poverty?

Recommended Advance Reading

• Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It. 2007.
• Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. 2005.
• Heinzl, Richard. Cambodia Calling: A Memoir from the Frontlines of Humanitarian Aid. 2008.
• Kurzweil, Raymond. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. 2005.
• Marshall, Alex, ed. The State of World Population 2007. United Nations Population Fund. www.unfpa.org/swp/.