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Said@Duke: Dr. Tom Catena on Serving Others

Part of the Said@Duke: 2019-2020 Series
“Try to structure your life so you can be of service to other people. Using your abilities and talents there’s always something you can do to contribute. It just takes a will.” -- Dr. Tom Catena

Dr. Tom Catena, M.D.’92 and founder of Mother of Mercy Hospital in Sudan, offered wisdom to the next generation Tuesday during the inaugural Catena Lecture in Medicine, Faith and Service at Duke Divinity School. Part of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative, appreciates and encourages students to study Catena's example. He is the only physician for a population of more than 750,000 in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, a conflict zone where humanitarian aid is restricted. At the Mother of Mercy Hospital, which he founded in 2007, he treats as many as 400 patients a day and is on call around the clock. Treating casualties of the region’s civil war, Catana performs more than 1,000 operations each year, often without running water or electricity. TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in 2015.

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