Cambodia Calling
A Memoir from the Frontlines of Humanitarian Aid
Lavin Exclusive Speaker
Richard Heinzl is the founder of Doctors Without Borders Canada: the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization that inspired a movement among medical professionals to help the world’s most vulnerable populations. Modest and deeply passionate, Heinzl shares stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the midst of war, famine and other challenges—and how technology like telemedicine is changing the face of healthcare around the globe.
In 1988, just out of medical school, Richard Heinzl founded the first North American chapter of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning humanitarian organization. Soon after, he became its very first field volunteer, spending an extraordinary year in remote Cambodia. His inspiring experiences there are movingly captured in his memoir, Cambodia Calling. Thousands of volunteers for DWB/MSF have since followed in his footsteps, bringing their healing skills to help many of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Today, Dr. Heinzl continues to work with DWB/MSF on technology issues as an advisor on their Telemedicine Advisory Committee.
Heinzl is also the new Global Medical Director of the Harvard-affiliated WorldCare International: a leader in providing access to quality second opinions from physicians at some of the world’s top academic medical centers. Heinzl’s work at the world’s largest telemedicine company, WorldCare, puts him on the frontier of new healthcare technologies. WorldCare provides access to more than 20,000 U.S-based specialists. Coupled with his previous role at Doctors without Borders, Heinzl’s new post gives him a unique view on healthcare. Years ago, he worked with limited resources and improvised with primitive technologies. Today, he works with bountiful resources and cutting-edge tech. Regardless of the circumstances or the equipment, Heinzl remains firm in his goal of helping people through medicine.
A renowned speaker, he shares his stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the midst of war and other challenges. Heinzl has been awarded the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Alumni Award of Merit, and named one of Report on Business’s Top 40 Under 40 for his work.