Terry O’Rourke ’86

A Doctor for the Developing World

Terry O’Rourke ’86 doesn’t do house calls; rather he answers the call of countries around the world in need of physicians. O’Rourke says he knew as a child that his destiny was to practice medicine in the developing world, taking care of people far less fortunate than he.

After graduating from Moravian, earning his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University, and serving in the US Air Force, O’Rourke decided to spread his own wings.

Over 19 years, he took temporary jobs in the United States, and whenever he had saved up enough to pay for travel, he would seek out opportunities to volunteer as a physician overseas. He’s worked in Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, India, New Zealand, St. Lucia, and the Dominican Republic.

“This is what I was meant to do. That’s a great feeling. I took my medical knowledge, I poured it out, and it made a difference.”

O’Rourke describes his experience as the chief medical officer of a hospital in Swaziland as difficult but perfect: “I was there to serve, and I worked very hard. There were no doctors from Swaziland at the hospital—only medical students. Physicians would come from other countries, and they’d zoom in and zoom out. People idealize service. It’s very challenging. Things happen that you don’t encounter in the United States—like a leopard sleeping under the porch. There were days that a lot of patients died. HIV presented a nightmare. There was almost nothing we could do at first; then the Clinton Administration opened up resources, and drugs came in that were really working. Patients showed up every day for treatment.”

People are alive today because of O’Rourke’s service.

O’Rourke took a position with MedStar Health this summer, and he now works at the World Bank in Washington, DC, where he sees people from all over the world—a perfect fit. He’ll stay put for now, but he thinks back very fondly over his years as a physician abroad. “This is what I was meant to do. That’s a great feeling. I took my medical knowledge, I poured it out, and it made a difference,” he says.