Helping train Haitian doctors

Moncton native Dr. Henri Lanctin ('76) is helping change lives in Haiti. Henri, a urologist, is part of a group training Haitian doctors in modern surgical techniques, teaching them how to perform surgeries that will make a huge difference in the quality of life for many.

He graduated from Moncton High School in 1972, then did his undergraduate degree at Mount Allison. From there he went on to do a Master's in biochemistry at Memorial University, medical school at Dalhousie University, and an internship in Victoria, B.C. at the Royal Jubilee Hospital. He did his urology training at University of Ottawa, then practised in Kentville, N.S. for four years before moving to the U.S.

He and his wife have been living in Minnesota for the past 13 years, but his mother and one of his sisters still call Moncton home. In the last year, he has started a urology program in Haiti at the Hôpital Biénfaisance de Pignon and has joined Project Haiti as its vice-president.

Instead of simply performing surgeries for those who need them, Henri and his colleagues use cases to teach Haitian doctors new surgical techniques they can use to treat the patients themselves. A first teaching session focused on a condition in women called vesico-vaginal fistulas, a common condition in the developing world that occurs during child birth.

Haitian physicians are very open to working with them. The 2010 earthquake had a huge impact on medical services in Haiti. A number of physicians were killed, others lost their facilities, and the medical school as well as the medical school hospital were destroyed. He says they are planning to rebuild the medical school hospital, but that will take a few years, making the facility in Pignon even more important.

Read full story: Moncton native lends surgical skills to Haiti (Moncton Times & Transcript)