Mine has been a life of frequent moves. I grew up as an “army brat”, traveling across the US and Europe – graduating from high school in Frankfurt, Germany in 1977. Medical School (Uniformed Services University, 1986) and residency took place while spending 16 years in the Army. I considered myself a pretty savvy man of the world until the Army sent me to Haiti for 7 months. This deployment led to a profound awareness of lives lived outside our “first world” bubble – eventually spurring me to join in the missions and activities of Doctors Without Borders.

Michael J Mooney is a physician in the General Surgery Department at Kaiser Permanente in the Portland, Southwest Washington area. Prior to serving 13 years with Kaiser Permanente in Atlanta, he did his five-year surgical residency in Tacoma, Washington at Fort Lewis. Having grown up as an “army brat” and then subsequently receiving medical and surgical training in the U.S. Army, Dr. Mooney had the opportunity to live all over the world. Today, he is a strong advocate for and regular volunteer with Doctors Without Borders, greatly enjoying seven two-month surgical missions over 12 years providing direct trauma care in Haiti, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria.