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Dr. David Goldberg has been a volunteer physician with the Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center for so long that he barely remembers how he got started. When the Kovler Center began in 1987, David was there documenting the physical signs of torture, increasing access to health care for survivors, and recruiting colleagues to join him. He continues to document torture for asylum claims and train physicians on how to conduct a trauma-informed physical exam.
David has also developed a protocol at John Stroger Hospital to evaluate traumatic brain injury, common in so many survivors. He accomplishes all of this and more with remarkable grace, sensitivity, and light- heartedness. David recognizes the discrepancy that exists between the stories people tell about their scars and what the wounds describe. With a physician’s knowledge and inquiry, he helps a survivor describe not only the physical abuse but the harsh and extreme conditions that compound the wound. A participant’s foot has too much scar tissue to be explained by a door having been slammed on it. David asks more and learns the wounds became infected and were not treated.
David states, “The wound is not just a wound but is linked to the extreme cruelty and harsh conditions. To make it believable to the judge, I have to enter into a dark, unbelievable story and describe it without hyperbole. It always blows me away when survivors thank me after we’ve gone through a grueling, retraumatizing forensic exam. When I get a call and am told that someone was granted asylum, I feel great!”