The author, while in medical school, spent a summer working in a meagerly-outfitted hospital ward in Sierra Leone, learning to treat patients afflicted with often-deadly Lassa fever. The author recounts his couple months in Sierra Leone, relating what he learned about life and medicine.

I definitely enjoyed this book. I found it to be a pretty quick read, and I think it did a good job of discussing this sort of medical aid work for someone who doesn't know a ton about it. There was an interesting balance between the human aspects of the work--discussing various patients, and relating interactions with other members of the medical staff--and, at the same time, broader comments on the healthcare system and situation in Sierra Leone and Liberia. I definitely emerged from this book with a strong appreciation for Dr. Conteh, the Sierra Leonean doctor who dedicated his life to treating Lassa fever and who mentored the author during his visit. ( )

As a medical student interested in infectious disease, Donaldson traveled to Sierra Leone to study the treatment of Lassa Fever. Infectious, deadly, in the dame family as Ebola, Lassa Fever causes massive bleeding from all orifices, and kills its victims quickly. The high contagion levels have made many medical professionals unwilling to treat the disease.

Donaldson finds himself quickly thrown into the middle of Sierra Leone's foremost Lassa treatment ward. As he is still just a student Donaldson feels woefully unprepared to make life-or-death decisions. He is also shocked by the lack of resources, lacking access to most drugs and lab tests. The nursing staff is highly committed but under-trained.

Political issues exacerbate medical problems. Donaldson was in Sierra Leone during a period of high corruption in neighboring Liberia. Many Liberians fled devastating violence and were forced to relocate to Sierra Leonean refugee camps, which became breeding grounds for Lassa Fever. It is difficult for aid agencies to get supplies into Sierra Leone, and Donaldson becomes increasingly disillusioned with American refusal to offer assistance in ridding Liberia of its corrupt dictator.

This was an intriguing look at life and medicine in Sierra Leone. Donaldson's mentor, Dr. Conteh, is an inspriting figure. He is one of the few willing to treat Lassa patients, and he has become the medical and humanitarian expert on the treatment of the disease. His tireless efforts to treat Lassa patients are quite amazing, and most of them are carried out single-handedly. ( )

This book caught my eye in our local library and with a quick read of the blurb on the back I checked it out. It was an inspiring true story of one young American doctor's recent quest to research the horrendous rat borne infection that is Lassa fever. His desire to learn more and add to the corpus of knowledge surrounding Lassa took him to Sierra Leone where he not only had to come to terms with cultural differences but he was also thrown back onto his own resources. A thought provoking account of one young man's striving to improve the life chances of some of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people. ( )

Ross Donaldson is a medical student, writing a paper about Lassa fever, who decides to travel to Sierra Leone and research the deadly disease first hand. Working alongside Dr. Conteh, a physician who has made Lassa fever his specialty, Donaldson sees the devastation caused not only by Lassa, but hunger, war, and other diseases in the African nation. The familiar (if you read any amount of medical memoirs) story of a student being thrust into healing head first, feeling unprepared, is accompanied by culture clashes and the difference between Western, first world medicine and the medicine practiced and available in Sierra Leone. While Donaldson starts off naive and a little annoying, making some observations that had me shaking my head, by the end I had grown to like him. The real stars of the novel are the physicians, nurses, and patients of the Lassa Ward. Written in an easy-going, simple style, this is an informative and heartwarming story. Recommended. Four stars. ( )