Conversation With Fleesie Hubbard
This Friday’s Conversation With featured Fleesie Hubbard, a professional in the public health field. Fleesie holds an undergraduate degree from Morgan State University and a Master of Science from University of Baltimore. Although she now lives and works in California, Fleesie has been a part of the TCS community her whole life, having been born in Remington.
Fleesie is part of an organization called Maryland ENT Abroad that organizes a “medical mission trip” to different countries in need of support for head and neck surgeries. Ear, nose, and throat doctors/surgeons, also known as ENTs, anesthesiologists, and nurses sign up to attend the trips. The group chooses countries that are deficient in iodine. Iodine deficiencies can cause goiters, growths that cause difficulties eating and swallowing as well as low self esteem and sometimes ostracization. In addition to goiter surgeries, the team does cancer related surgeries and hundreds of physicals and ear exams.
Fleesie’s job during the mission trips is to coordinate the sometimes complex aspects of traveling and practicing medicine abroad. A lot of planning goes into the trips, from arranging who will attend, to getting equipment through Customs, to finding a hospital to operate in. Fleesie emphasized that when contacting hospitals to work with, she makes it clear that they want to work with the hospital staff and learn from them too; the service is a reciprocal relationship. Fleesie says working in these countries makes her appreciate her circumstances. “It puts your reality into perspective and makes me appreciate my life.” Thank you Fleesie for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come back and visit the TCS students!