Healing beyond borders
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When Duffy Casey, MD (MD ’09), FACOG, was a high school senior, he was uncertain about his future. College seemed a distant dream, overshadowed by the immediate need to work multiple jobs to support his education.
"I might join the military or go to college; I’m not sure yet," he confided one day to ‘Dr. Chuck’ — Charles Dietzen, MD, a regular customer at a coffee shop where Casey worked in the mornings before school. Dr. Chuck always arrived on his Harley motorcycle or in a Jeep Wrangler with the top down.
Dr. Chuck posed a question that would change Casey's life: "Have you ever thought about being a doctor?"
“I said, ‘Oh, no, Dr. Chuck. There’s no way. No one in my family has ever pursued a career in medicine,’” Casey recalled.
So, Dr. Chuck invited Casey to visit his office. There, he saw Dr. Chuck’s work as a pediatrician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation, helping children with limb abnormalities and other challenges. He saw a photo of Dr. Chuck being hugged by Mother Teresa and a handwritten blessing from Pope John Paul II. And he learned that Dr. Chuck traveled around the world on medical missions and had started Timmy Global Health, based in Indianapolis.
Dr. Chuck invited Casey to accompany him with a group of doctors on a trip to Haiti to provide medical relief services to geographically isolated and resource limited communities. The trip showed Casey the power of medicine. Dr. Chuck and his team used their medical skills to bring relief and hope to patients who had been suffering for months without access to care. While shadowing Dr. Chuck, Casey realized, “I want to be that for other people, and no matter what it takes, I’m going to be a physician.”
Casey became an OBGYN and surgeon and built a life and career deeply rooted in healing and humanitarian service. He is chairman of the board of Global Brigades, a nonprofit he cofounded in 2003 to mobilize students and professionals to implement sustainable health and development programs in under-resourced communities worldwide. He also serves as an attending physician at Malama I Ke Ola Health Center, a federally qualified health center on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
Growing up in the small farm town of Noblesville, Indiana, Casey was shaped by the values of hard work and education instilled by his mother, a public school teacher, and his father, a credit manager. He held multiple jobs, including as a school janitor, to be able to attend a private high school and access better educational opportunities.
He earned a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Once again, he found himself handling several jobs, as a bartender, in a gym, in a biology lab and as a resident assistant. He pursued a fast-tracked education, graduating in three years with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.
After graduation, Casey bought a one-way plane ticket to Honduras and lived there for nearly three years. During his time there, he collaborated with a local physician and the Sociedad Amigos de los Niños, and established a holistic model for global engagement that tackles the root causes of health disparities. Casey had the privilege of working closely with Sociedad founder Sister Maria Rosa, often called the “Mother Teresa of Honduras” for her unwavering commitment to social justice and community development.
Global Brigades pioneered innovative approaches to international development, focusing on creating quantifiable, lasting change through community partnerships, improving access to health care services, creating clean water and sanitization solutions, and improving economic conditions through empowering residents and developing community-owned banks.
While living in Honduras, Casey would think back to how he had wanted to be like Dr. Chuck. He applied to Eastern Virginia Medical School — today Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School at Old Dominion University — and flew back to the United States for an interview. He remembered buying a corduroy jacket from Goodwill to wear with his only pair of pants, which didn’t match, and “some random tie.”
Casey appreciated the rigorous clinical training at EVMS. He also was grateful for professors like Paul Aravich, Ph.D., now Professor of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, who supported his passion for global health and humanitarian service. He was able to make trips to Honduras to maintain his involvement with Global Brigades and expand its impact. “I wasn't locked into only being a medical student,” he said. “I was allowed to still be a grown adult with other interests and responsibilities and obligations.”
Casey brought interested classmates with him to Honduras — the first group of medical school students, rather than pre-med undergraduates, to volunteer for Global Brigades. EVMS also gave Casey leave to fly to Myanmar for 10 days to provide medical care after Cyclone Nargis created a humanitarian crisis with more than 130,000 fatalities.
After finishing medical school, Casey did his residency at the University of Hawaii. During that time, Global Brigades continued to grow.
Throughout his career, Casey has consistently chosen paths that align with his values of service and equity, opting to work at a federally qualified health center where, for the last 11 years, he has served a diverse patient population, including people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, prisoners and uninsured individuals. “As a physician, especially as a physician who performs surgery, it keeps you sharp,” he said.
As chair of the board for Global Brigades, Casey oversees programs in countries like Honduras, Panama and Ghana. The organization also extends aid to asylum seekers, primarily from Syria, in Greece — a program Casey started after his residency. The organization's evolution into a financially sustainable entity through cost-recovery programs and microfinance initiatives marks a new era of self-sufficiency and expanded reach, he said.
Outside of his professional commitments, Casey finds joy in surfing, in Hawaii and Indonesia. "Surfing has become my adult passion," he said. “It's where I find peace and escape the rigors of work."
Whether navigating the waves or the complexities of global health, Casey remains committed to making a difference, driven by a mission to improve lives through compassionate care and innovative solutions.
Pictured at top: Dr. Duffy Casey with Sociedad founder Sister Maria Rosa.