How One Woman’s Passion is Changing International Wound Care

     You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. –Kahlil Gibran

    She wakes up a 6 a.m., takes Mazy, the long-haired dachshund to doggy day care, attends an hour-long aerobic/aquatic session, and prepares a curriculum on the management of cardiovascular and pulmonary dysfunction — all by 9:30 a.m. This is only the beginning of a long day for Mary Jo Geyer, PhD, PT, FCCWS, CLT-LANA, CPed. Mary Jo then typically participates in a bevy of professional meetings during her lunch hour, teaches in the afternoons, sees patients at a private clinic once a week, and works on research projects (and picks up Mazy on her way home and prepares dinner for her family). Then while most people relax in front of the TV, Mary Jo begins working on global volunteer activities. Before long, it is 6 a.m. and Mary Jo begins another similar day.      When asked how she manages the lifestyle of a full-time Assistant Professor, part-time lymphatic filariasis consultant, and part-time clinical wound/lymphedema specialist, Mary Jo replies, “It is unreal! It can be tough, but because I love what I do and all of my professional interests relate to one another, it’s manageable.” Focused and dedicated to the evolution of lymphedema and wound care, Mary Jo says her work with the World Health Organization (WHO) — the United Nations’ coordinating health authority — is currently her biggest and most exciting project. She played a pivotal role in establishing a new WHO initiative to develop standardized clinical practice guidelines in wound and lymphedema management for underresourced countries.

     Mary Jo recently led the first Association for the Advancement of Wound Care-Health Volunteer Organization (AAWC-HVO) global alliance volunteer team on a professional voyage to India. The trip was funded by a grant from the Benter Global Citizenship Project at Chatham University (Pittsburgh, Pa), which provided experiential learning for Chatham physical therapy students while training Indian healthcare professionals in wound and lymphedema management. India was selected because the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC) was an approved AAWC-HVO Global Alliance site in 2007. The CMC was interested in developing a specialized wound service in addition to learning multimodal methods for the management of edema and lymphedema from lymphatic filariasis, the second leading cause of chronic disability worldwide. Mary Jo’s team trained a group of 20 physicians, nurses, and physical therapists as instructors in advanced management methods and taught 20 community-based health workers and informal caregivers basic WHO treatment protocol that focuses on skin care and controlling the venous component of lymphedema.

     Witnessing first-hand the inequitable distribution of resources in India, Mary Jo learned a significant professional lesson. A patient suffering with elephantiasis was so impoverished she did not have a bed and had to sleep on a concrete slab outside her 8- x 10-foot apartment and because she had no soap or washcloths, proper cleansing of her swollen leg impossible. “Such an experience has an unbelievable impact on you,” Mary Jo says. “It’s ironic that although proven methods of care and healing exist, in situations such as the one in India, the essential matter is to provide the remedy in this scenario.” The experience underscored Mary Jo’s belief that healthcare providers have a huge responsibility — ie, to pass on the knowledge and skills they have acquired over the years. Teaching other professionals how to appropriately teach others is a major responsibility, but knowing one’s efforts are self-sustaining brings great satisfaction.

     Mary Jo’s personal philosophy is that the best strategy in terms of having a positive impact on the lives of people in need is a multidisciplinary team approach to patient care. One of the founding members of the AAWC, Mary Jo is a champion for the AAWC’s philosophy of primary and secondary prevention, prevention of disabilities, and the reinforcement of proper care.

     A graduate of Slippery Rock University (Slippery Rock, Pa) and The University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa), Mary Jo initially was involved in cardiac rehab and wellness programming. She did not become involved in wound care until she was a practicing physical therapist and director of rehab services at Butler Memorial Hospital (Butler, Pa). One weekend, a patient was admitted with chronic venous leg ulcers that had progressively grown worse and developed maggots. The surgeon immediately called for amputation but Mary Jo had a plan. After using calcium alginate, foam, and compression bandages, the patient’s wounds were so improved that surgery was unnecessary. Mary Jo’s clinical skill and the simplicity of the solution impressed the surgeon. More importantly, the end result and dramatic physical improvements of the wound spoke to Mary Jo, clarifying her desire to be involved in wound care on a regular basis. “Through application of simple, modern wound care principles, difficult wounds were healed,” Mary Jo says. “Before long I was seeing and treating patient after patient. They all kept healing.” Not surprisingly, Mary Jo was one of few clinicians at the facility who was able to endure the odor and sight of wounds. “It’s about the patients and helping them recover. I’m not put off by the wound. I just look at patients and empathize with what they are going through.”

     Mary Jo is passionate about future practitioners, firmly believing in students having the opportunities to experience healthcare on a global level. Professionalism consists of developing and maintaining skills, in addition to being both politically and culturally knowledgeable. “Students who are soon to be clinicians need to get hands-on experience in other cultures,” she says.

     By sharing her knowledge and skills with fellow professionals in a developing country, Mary Jo gains as much as she gives. “The HVO-AAWC Global Alliance Steering Committee has developed a wound and lymphedema curriculum that will be used to assess specific site needs and track training efforts,” she explains. “We are in the process of creating a standardized introductory training program to lay a foundation that volunteers can build upon.” In 2009, WHO will sponsor Mary Jo and colleagues for more extensive training in Ghana.

     Despite her hectic daily routine and intensive teaching and research schedule, Mary Jo enthusiastically maintains her roles, even if there are 20 of them. Every aspect of Mary Jo’s professional life contributes to the universal good — sufficient healthcare for those in grave need — a much-needed scope of practice.

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.