The Alumnac
Going the Distance Dr. Benjamin Cavilla takes medical and social care to international destinations and new heights.
“Practising medicine in isolation provides only a temporary solution at best. I believe that as Canadians we not only can do better, we are obliged to do better.”
There are those who feel saddened by the plight of poverty-stricken people around the world, and then there are those who choose to do something about the situation. Dr. Benjamin Cavilla (BSc ’00) falls distinctly into the latter category. Cavilla is a resident physician and founder of the Flying Doctors of Canada (FDOC) – a not-forprofit independent organization of volunteers committed to longterm, sustainable humanitarian efforts in some of the most economically and socially bereft communities in the world. Cavilla 12
U of L journal
established FDOC in 2006 with colleagues and fellow medical school graduates Dr. Daniel Kopac and Dr. Rodrigo Onell. Their objective: to improve health care in developing countries by creating a multidisciplinary network of professionals that can cooperatively implement effective solutions to the health issues of targeted communities. During his third year of medical school, Cavilla became involved with Los Médicos Voladores (LMV), a similarly inspired charity organization in the United States. Much to his surprise, Cavilla found
himself thrust into a lead role within LMV, and while his interest in humanitarian efforts grew exponentially, he came to realize that many well-meaning organizations lacked the medical leadership and insight needed to identify root problems and implement sustainable solutions. “There’s a problem in the current approach to these efforts,” Cavilla says. “Practising medicine in isolation provides only a temporary solution at best. I believe that as Canadians we not only can do better, we are obliged to do better.”