Little booklet is big
on helping you find a doctor abroad
The old "don't-leave-home-without-it"
slogan could be applied to a little blue-and-white booklet
that fits in a pocket and should be packed by every English-speaking
person venturing abroad.
It's titled International Association for Medical
Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT), and contains the names,
addresses and phone numbers of about 500 doctors in 125
countries, all of whom meet a standard that should provide
competent care to Canadians who become ill or injured in
foreign countries.
The non-profit organization reviews the qualifications
of each physician it adds to its directory. All "must be
fully licensed in their own country, must have received
postgraduate training in a western country, and be fluent
in English."
Set fees
Each must subscribe to a fee schedule set for IAMAT
members -- $80 for an office visit, $110 for a house (hotel)
call or night appointment (9 p.m-9 a.m.), $140 on Sundays
and holidays.
IAMAT sprang from an incident in 1960, when Dr. Vincenzo
Marcolongo received a call from the Canadian Embassy in
Rome. Marcolongo was known to the embassy doctor because
he had studied medicine at McGill University in Montreal.
In this case, he was consulted about a young Canadian
woman who was gravely ill in a Rome hospital. Italian doctors
could not figure out what was wrong with her.
When Marcolongo learned she had been prescribed a
painkiller, he had the clue he needed. Because of his training
in Canada, Marcolongo knew that the drug, while harmless
to Latins, could be life-threatening to Anglo-Saxons. That
quick diagnosis, helped by his ability to speak with the
patient in English, led to treatment and full recovery.
It also sparked an idea. Marcolongo contacted other
North American-trained doctors in Italy and formed a network
that became the foundation of IAMAT.
He expanded the list after emigrating to Canada in
1964.
Marcolongo, who settled in Toronto, died in 1988.
His widow, Assunta Uffer-Marcolongo of Guelph, is now president
of the organization, which has offices in Guelph, Toronto,
New York, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Free membership
Membership is free and anyone can sign up online,
at http://www.iamat.org/; by mail (40 Regal Rd.,
Guelph, Ont. N1K 1B5; or Suite 1 -- 1287 St. Clair Ave.
W., Toronto, Ont. M6E 1B8); or by phone: 519-836-0102, 416-652-0137.
Members receive the booklet, membership card and other
benefits. Those on safari in East Africa, for example, can
buy a one-time membership -- $25 per person covering Kenya
and Tanzania; $50 for Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi -- from
the Flying Doctor's Society of Africa, with air-ambulance
service from the Serengeti and other remote locations.
