James Maskalyk
Humanitarian and Author of Six Months in Sudan
James Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of Abyei, Sudan, in 2007 as Médecins Sans Frontiéres (Doctors Without Borders/MSF) newest medical doctor in the field. Equipped with his experience as an emergency physician in a downtown hospital and his desire to understand the hardest parts of the world, Maskalyk's days were spent treating malnourished children, fending off a measles epidemic, and staying out of the soldiers' way. He is the author of Six Months in Sudan, which chronicles his life-changing experiences in Africa, and is sought after speaker on issues relating to the 'medicine of poverty'.
James Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of Abyei, Sudan, in 2007 as Médecins Sans Frontiéres (Doctors Without Borders/MSF) newest medical doctor in the field. Equipped with his experience as an emergency physician in a downtown hospital and his desire to understand the hardest parts of the world, Maskalyk's days were spent treating malnourished children, fending off a measles epidemic, and staying out of the soldiers' way. Worn raw in the struggle to meet overwhelming needs with inadequate resources, he returned home six months later more affected by the experience, the people, and the place, than he had anticipated.
Six Months in Sudan is Maskalyk's story about his experiences in Sudan. Starting out as a blog, this stream of consciousness evolved into a heart-wrenching book that has been critically acclaimed by audiences around the world.
Maskalyk currently practices emergency medicine at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto. He is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and divides his academic time teaching, being an editor at the open access medical journal Open Medicine, and advocating for global health issues at the University. Currently, Maskalyk is working with Ethiopian partners at Addis Ababa University to develop a program that will train the country's first emergency physicians.
His work has led him to several countries throughout Asia, South America, and Africa. Maskalyk has worked with MSF twice, first as a journalist writing a blog about neglected diseases, and most recently as a physician in Sudan.
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4. Volunteerism
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3. Medicine
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2. Social Responsibility
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1. Humanitarianism
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April 2009Six Months in Sudan: A Young Doctor in a War-Torn Village
In 2007 James Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of Abyei, Sudan, a doctor newly recruited by Médecins Sans Frontières'', his days spent treating malnourished children, coping with a measles epidemic and watching for war. Worn thin by the struggle to meet overwhelming needs with few resources, he returned home six months later more affected by the experience, the people and the place, than he had anticipated.
