Making a Difference in Patient Care, One Lab at a Time

In 2001, David Davis, BS, HT(ASCP), QIHC, saw an advertisement from the philanthropic organization, Pathologists Overseas, seeking a histologist to join a health mission trip to improve laboratory services in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Back then, Mr. Davis was a surgical pathology laboratory manager at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He jumped at the chance to apply for the mission trip and was excited when he was selected.

For the past 18 years, he has continued to travel to resource-limited countries around the world to donate equipment, supplies, fine-tune pathology labs, teach histology and develop histology and immunohistochemistry labs. Often, this has been done from scratch.   

Almost all the labs have been short on equipment, reagents and general lab supplies. Mr. Davis works with what the laboratories have on hand and does the best he can to produce quality lab results for patient care. Trying to obtain working equipment has been a challenge. In addition to using fazed-out equipment in Colorado medical labs, he has secured supplies and equipment from generous companies.  

“The patients in the under-developed countries desire just as good of care as those of us in the more developed areas of the world,” he says.

His early trips were supported by awards and scholarships from different organizations and companies. His last few trips have been supported by ASCP. 

“I am grateful to be a part of the ASCP working on a common interest, pathology and histology laboratory development. Without the help of ASCP, I would not have been able to provide much of the help I have given over the last three years,” Mr. Davis says. 

Each laboratory he visits is different and has its own set of challenges. The professionalism and eagerness of his colleagues to learn is inspiring. Mr. Davis is careful not to impose his values on the colleagues he is assisting.

“When I go into a lab, the first thing I do is to let them know I am not a dictator and that this is their lab.  I am only there to share my experience and knowledge with them,” he explains. “They need to take the training and new knowledge and use it to help provide the best patient care they can.  My main objective is to leave something that will help improve the lab and be sustainable.”

Today, 18 years after his first mission trip, Mr. Davis is retired and living in Costa Rica. While he could sit back and take it easy, he prefers to maintain a busy travel schedule. Over the next 10 months, he has the following trips planned:   

• Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to finish installing a histology lab at HBMM hospital
• Monrovia, Liberia, to fine tune a new histology laboratory at the JFK Hospital
• Accra, Ghana, to organize the second Western Africa Histology Congress planned for March 2020
• Kingston, Jamaica, to organize the first Caribbean Histology - Immunohistochemical Congress
• Haydom, Tanzania, to complete a new histology lab at Haydom Lutheran Hospital

“I think you can see why one can justify giving time, money, and talent to this cause,” he says, reflecting on his volunteer outreach efforts. “You can say you are only one person and that you most likely will make no impact. However, if a number of people help and share resources and talents, we can make a difference.”