History

HRD Corps History & Philosophy

Dr. Schmit was lecturing to the Haitian radiology residency in 2016 when he suddenly realized he was teaching MRI and CT to residents who didn’t see these types of images because they didn’t have these scanners!  It was an embarrassing epiphany. Although well intentioned, the educational efforts were dis-ingenuine. We were teaching people to fish who didn’t have fishing poles! 

 It was clear that capacity development was needed, or the education would be pointless. To actually be impactful, we had to refocus on the broader work of building full radiology services. This needed to include all the required components for completing an imaging process; equipment, infrastructure, maintenance, parts, training, image storage and clinical systems.

 We founded Humanitarian Radiology Development Corps (HRD Corps) in 2017 as a charity dedicated to creating new radiology capacity by building full value streams.  We also learned and hoped to not make the mistake of well-intentioned outsiders who might imposing teaching, plans or equipment on people whose true needs were not addressed.

At HRD Corps

We only engage in projects after a personal invitation from a client. We carefully listen to our clients to fully understand the needs and context of each project. We place senior, experienced people in the field so that real-time decisions can be made without the time delays of bureaucratic reporting structures. We believe in sustainability, which we define simply as -a project is done when our clients don’t need us to come back anymore. Until then, we believe in frequent on-site engagement.

We are a small family of close-knit volunteers who have a passionate calling to serve.  Although our work is immensely rewarding, it is fraught with unique challenges, chaotic environments, frequent failures and constant proximity with heartbreaking health care disparities. At HRD Corps, we are always looking for creative, resilient, dedicated people who are inspired to humbly serve and show gracious grit and humor while caring for others.

 If you are interested, reach out to us. There is so much work to do!