'Medicine transcends all barriers; it knows no frontiers, it respects
all credos and, most importantly, it treats all human beings as equals.
Despite the tremendous socio-economic inequalities that I encountered
and experienced in each one of the four countries where I've lived and
practised medicine (Peru, United States, Spain and the UK), I've always
been proud to find that the Hippocratic Oath is unwavering and equally
applied to all citizens. My identity never came from having a certain
nationality, speaking a specific language or even from my family
genealogy. It came (and still does) from the set of values that the
medical profession professes and that I, as a doctor, hold close to my
heart. These values are the building blocks of society; without them,
everything else crumbles. My "nationality" is medicine and my allegiance
is to the human race. The lives and the clinical cases in this book are
all real and they tell the story of how the Hippocratic Oath prevails
even in the most challenging conditions. They remind us that no matter
how much adversity lies before us (poverty, socio-economic instability,
lack of resources, etc.), with sufficient effort, creativity and
perseverance, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. After all,
altruism - the bedrock of medicine - is free of charge, independent of
location and always available for anyone who's willing to use it.'
Dr Carlo Canepa
