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Dear colleagues,

Here’s some wonderful feedback from acting CEO of UNICEF, one of our major TTD partners. 

” I am writing to thank you for the gift of $75,000 from Twice The Doctor Foundation to support children in Sierra Leone. I am so thrilled to learn that the third year of Twice The Doctor Day has been a success.
…. In Sierra Leone  … Ebola has destroyed children’s lives. … Not only are you helping deliver vital healthcare, you are also helping build more robust healthcare systems that can better withstand disasters.
....  By providing multi-year funding to vital programs you are enabling us to make systemic changes to address the underlying causes of poverty”

 (Well over a quarter of a million dollars has been raised by the Twice the Doctor Foundation  for Unicef program’s in Sierra Leone in just over the two years.)

….  ” As medical professionals, you have taken your roles to another level and I really  hope you all feel proud of your achievements. On behalf of everyone at UNICEF Australia and all the children you are helping, I thank you sincerely.”

Adrian Graham

Acting Chief Executive

UNICEF Australia

I feel all of you who have participated /contributed richly deserve this type of appreciation; so enjoy!

Regards to all

Rob Baume    (on behalf of the directors of TTD)

20 July 2016

Dear Colleagues,

So far we have raised $125,000 towards this year’s Doctor’s Day in May campaign. That translates to the equivalent of salaries for approximately 5 doctors and 25 nurses for an entire year. That’s going to provide incredibly valuable services for thousands of patients in Africa!

We have now raised over $425,000 since inception about two and a half years ago. By all accounts- not bad! So well done to all who have contributed.

There’s now just two weeks to go till the end of the financial year. You can still make your fully tax deductible contribution and be part of this year’s effort at;

twicethedoctor.org.au

Remember there’s a whole other world of patients out there and when you are working for the developing world your first world problems seem to disappear.

Regards to all,

Rob Baume

(on behalf of the directors of TTD)

16 June 2016

Dear Colleagues,

So far we have raised over $110,000 towards this year’s Doctor’s Day in May campaign. This will be enough to fund the wages component for many thousands of lid surgeries for trachoma, the training of nearly one hundred community health workers in Sierra Leone and lend substantial support for the wonderful work being done by the Barbara May Foundation in Ethiopia.

There is still plenty of time to contribute to this year’s campaign and I hope this message received over the weekend from Allan Kelly, paediatrician, might inspire you;

“This is a fantastic initiative. Although it is called “Twice the Doctor” it enables us to be many more times than twice the doctor. We are so lucky to be living in a country where one day of our pay enables us be doctors for a whole month somewhere else. The riches of this world are so unevenly distributed that the least we can do as the lucky few is to help to redress that imbalance.”

Recall that we primarily became doctors in order to help patients. I firmly believe that this type of contribution is a particularly effective way to help some of the most needful patients in the world.

twicethedoctor.org.au

Rob Baume

(on behalf of the Directors of Twice The Doctor Foundation)

30.5.2016

Dear colleagues,

We have raised close to $90,000 dollars so far for this year’s Doctor’s Day in May. Well done to all! This goes a long way in Africa.

There are many of you who I hope will still contribute to this year’s effort having given generously in previous years.

For logistical reasons the main launch at Royal Prince Alfred and affiliate hospitals will be this coming Friday, 27th so let’s hope for a big response. Some most generous donations have already been received.

Here are some comments received in the last few days from contributors. I hope they will inspire.

“The more that can be done to support the health and rights of women and children in developing countries, the better the world will be”. -David Martin, surgeon.

“TTD is a fabulous concept and has made a tremendous difference to thousands of people around the world in a relatively short time.”- Stephen Cala, physician.

“Independent of the amount of funds raised, you are helping to transfer the paradigm of giving towards a more efficient, less parochial and higher impact model.”- Simon Baume, strategist.

Please consider your contribution to this year’s campaign at

twicethedoctor.org.au

Regards to all

Rob Baume

(on behalf of the directors of TTD foundation)

25 May 2016

Dear Colleagues

Doctors Day in May is this Friday. I hope that you are in a position to join hundreds of other doctors who are participating this year – some have already made substantial contributions.

Please recall,

1. This is quite possibly the most effective and efficient way for the majority of us to use our medical skills in order to make a real contribution to health in the developing world. In other words, in most cases this is at least every bit as effective as if you would have travelled to Africa and volunteered.

2. Your contribution is greatly appreciated. Remind yourself just how much…

https://vimeo.com/user22571367/review/111162076/252a4a8f79

3. Your contribution is fully tax- deductible and the directors pay all administrative fees of the Foundation so your contribution is further leveraged.

Just imagine if you contributed a day’s pay on a yearly basis for 12 years. That would be the equivalent of paying an African doctor’s wage for about 1 year. In other words you could look back in 12 years’ time and realise you had effectively “volunteered for a year in Africa”. It’s not quite the same but in some ways it is better because wages feed into the local communities and new skill sets are acquired and preserved (particularly by training nurses). You would also be inspiring other doctors to get on board and you would be mentoring philanthropy to junior doctors coming through.

Not a bad 12 days’ work in 12 years! Possibly the most effective medical work you could do. This is indeed an opportunity. If there wasn’t a huge need and there wasn’t a large discrepancy between medical wages here compared with Africa, this opportunity would not exist!

Please make your contribution for Doctors Day in May at

twicethedoctor.org.au

Regards to all

Rob Baume

(On behalf of the directors of TTD Foundation)

17 May 2016

Dear Colleagues,

There is less than two weeks till Doctor’s Day in May- Friday, May 20th

Hope you will join hundreds – (perhaps a thousand or so?) of your colleagues in making a significant contribution to this year’s effort.

Please recall:

1. We have already raised over $300,000. This has gone towards training hundreds of health care workers who see thousands of mothers and children in Sierra Leone to reduce child and maternal mortality.

It has also helped train and pay the salaries of trachoma lid surgeons who have performed thousands of blindness-preventing surgeries in Ethiopia.

2. Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and its affiliate hospitals are organising a major launch of the Twice the Doctor concept for Doctor’s Day in May. They have indicated that they are committed to an ongoing annual programme.

Their contributions will go to the Barbara May Foundation who do excellent work in Ethiopia to reduce maternal mortality rate and birth complications.

3. The New Zealand branch of Twice the Doctor is being established.

This is an indication of the leveraging power of your combined efforts and speaks of the potential for a widespread multi-national programme.

Regards to all

Rob Baume

On behalf of the Directors of Twice the Doctor Foundation

Dear colleagues,

My co-directors and I are gearing up for Doctors Day in May.

In the interim, the effects of your previous and on-going contributions are continuing to be implemented by our partners. In Sierra Leone, UNICEF continues to help rehabilitate the badly battered health system- never terrific but hugely further degraded by Ebola.

In March 2015, Bill Gates gave a TED talk on preventing the next Ebola or similar outbreak. Here’s some of what he said;

“What are the key pieces? First, we need strong health systems in poor countries. That’s where mothers can give birth safely, kids can get all their vaccines.”

This is what UNICEF’s work in Sierra Leone is helping to achieve.

In Ethiopia we continue to strongly support surgical efforts to deal with trachoma through our partnership with the Fred Hollows Foundation who trains and employs local surgeons. Here’s a quote from Kebede, one of their young surgeons;

” I consider all the people I operate on as my mothers, sisters and fathers. We share the same culture, the same lifestyle. I understand their problems.”

It is just this type of sentiment that reinforces one of our key messages on the major advantages of “virtual volunteering” advocated by the Twice The Doctor Foundation

(TTD).

Regards to all,

Rob Baume

On behalf of the directors of TTD.

4.3.2016

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, I gave a feedback presentation at the NSW Rheumatology annual meeting. I believe it was well received. There were many already signed-on supporters in the audience. Gratifyingly, two of the senior rheumatologists, Mike Prowse and Mark Arnold have volunteered to give similar presentations at Grand Rounds at their respective hospitals.

As you know, we seem to get quite a lot of media interest for our efforts but in reality my co-directors and I have found that the only way that we get regular sign-ons in significant numbers is by doctors giving brief, (sometimes only 5- 10 minute) talks to their colleagues. This is why we are particularly grateful to Mike and Mark.

If anyone else, junior or senior would like to give a brief talk to their colleagues – please let me know. We can send you a complete PowerPoint presentation or a short abbreviated version taking about 10 to 15 minutes to present. In addition, I would be happy to train any potential presenter and would consider even being at the presentation if required.

In the interim, here is some feedback I received recently from Sierra Leone.

https://youtu.be/DLxqmig8gec

Don’t for a minute think that your contributions are unappreciated!

1. You will note that we have not sent you any hard copy newsletters with glossy photos. We endeavour to keep administration costs down. Further, all administration costs of the TTD foundation are paid for by donations from the directors.

Regards to all and season’s greetings.

Rob Baume

On behalf of the Directors of the Twice the Doctor Foundation

Dear colleagues

In these times of major challenges presented by massive refugee movements, I hope you feel justifiably proud of the contribution you have already made to help with medical problems that are not merely local.

Twice the Doctor funds, totalling over $300,000 collected, have been directed towards training healthcare staff in Sierra Leone to rebuild capacity following the devastating toll reaped by the Ebola crisis. Donations have also gone towards preventing permanent blindness by funding trachoma lid surgery in Ethiopia.

Sometimes the good we do and inspire comes from unexpected quarters; I was recently informed of a patient who happened to be in Wyong Hospital during the last Doctors Day in May. She was moved to crochet away, sell the items produced and donate the funds, $200, to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

I was also informed that UNICEF were very pleased to have had an airing on the 7.30 report, which you may recall featured the Twice The Doctor concept during the height of the Ebola crisis. Hopefully the programme resulted in lots of direct donations to UNICEF and at minimum a heightened awareness of the excellent work it does in so many parts of the world.

By pulling together we can inspire our medical colleagues and others to chip in. Your contribution has already had an amplified effect. We have had in the order of 300 doctors participate. Imagine if really large numbers of doctors were involved – the opportunities for sponsorship from industry would be multiple. Please spread the Twice The Doctor message to your medical colleagues; you’ll potentially be doing everyone, not least some of the most needful people in the world, a significant favour.

Regards to all

Rob Baume

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for your generous contribution to Doctor’s Day in May 2015. We have collected over $70,000 so the Twice The Doctor foundation has raised over $300,000 since inception 18 months ago.

For those who have yet to contribute to this year’s campaign but wish to do so there’s still time. Remember the end of the financial year is just around the corner and your donation is fully tax- deductible.

Your contribution goes a long way where a nurses wage is about $7 a day.

So “use your heart and your head ” to really make a difference to health in Africa.

www.twicethedoctor.org.au

Regards to all

Rob Baume

(on behalf of the directors of the Twice The Doctor Foundation)