No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War A Memoir

Cecily Wang wanted to become a doctor to help people in the most fundamental ways possible, only to become disillusioned with the profession during medical school and residency. It wasn’t until she went on an international relief mission to Haiti in 2006 that she found herself practicing medicine as she had originally envisioned. She was able to help a sick person in great need, unencumbered by red tape and regulations. The patient’s health was all that mattered.

Cecily has continued to do international work for the last decade with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and other aid groups. She has served populations affected by earthquakes and cholera, famine and civil war, in Haiti and Myanmar, Samoa and Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria. In the process, Cecily has been stretched to her emotional limits, witnessed the worst and the best in human nature, and learned more about herself than she once could have imagined.

Cecily Wang is a trauma surgeon and intensive care physician in Hawaii. She was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and immigrated to the US with her family when she was eight years old. Dr. Wang has extensive medical training in general surgery and trauma critical care medicine. She has served both domestically and internationally as a member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and several other aid groups. Cecily believes a positive impact can be made by a small group of caring individuals, and she loves getting her patients to laugh, even if it hurts their incisions a bit. In addition to medical relief work, she enjoys traveling and creating art.