On the front line: Doctor in Darfur

That aid workers can be classified as one of the five Ms-mad, misfit, missionary, mercenary, or in a midlife crisis-is well known in humanitarian aid circles. Reflecting on the past nine months of my life working as a doctor for Médicines Sans Frontières (MSF), I wonder which cohort I belonged to.

A question often asked is what motivates someone to work for a humanitarian aid agency? People are complex-no surprises there-and the interplay of their motivations is often baffling and deeply personal. So I can only really speak for myself. It was something I always wanted to do. (Wasn't that what I said at my medical school interview?)

I needed to challenge myself and use all the skills I had acquired as a postgraduate doctor …