Growing up as a self-driven, globe-trotting tennis prodigy in southern Africa, Lesley Barbour couldn’t possibly have envisioned the satisfying career in medicine she has since created for herself. She now resides in a small community on the opposite side of the world, treating and counseling patients who are nearing the end of life.
Dr. Barbour is a fellowship-trained, palliative care and hospice physician at Mercy Home Health and Hospice of Mercy. It’s an honor for her to walk patients through their final life choices.
“I love having those conversations with patients about end-of-life wishes, trying to help family and patients make those decisions,” she says.
Lesley Barbour grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia), the adopted child of an athletic father and Scottish-born mother. She grabbed a racket early in life, dragging her father (an Olympic field hockey player) out to play before and after school. She became Zimbabwe’s top-rated junior tennis player by 1989, and qualified to play junior singles and doubles at Wimbledon. Playing singles there was nerve-wracking, although in doubles she did quite well.
A college tennis scholarship brought her to America, but a series of back injuries derailed what she naively assumed would be a career in professional tennis. She remained at the University of Arizona to earn medical and Master of Public Health degrees. Dr. Barbour completed her residency in emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center. During this time, she used her study breaks to take runs—long runs. She ended up running several marathons, including the famed Boston Marathon, and returned to her home continent briefly to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest point.
She took a job in Albuquerque and remained there for nearly a dozen years, mostly as an emergency room doctor. About five years ago, while with Lovelace Health System, she had a chance to try hospice work. “I absolutely loved it.” So, she completed a fellowship in palliative care and hospice at the University of New Mexico in order to be board certified.
During her time in New Mexico she discovered Southwest Colorado; two of her fellowship rotations were in Durango. So, when the opportunity came to join the Mercy Home Health and Hospice staff, she jumped. (She also works several shifts a month at Mercy as an emergency room doctor.) The girl from a nearly snowless country is now into cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, as well as mountain biking and hiking. The outdoor life suits her, and so does the small community feel. Doctors, nurses, technical aides – everyone is a team.
“Because it’s such a small town, I feel that everyone is very respectful and really tries to work together,” Dr. Barbour says. “And the patients are lovely.”
After a childhood that she admits was focused on “me, me, me,” the Zimbabwe native is glad to have found a niche helping others.
“I feel unbelievably fortunate what this country has offered me and what I’ve been able to take advantage of,” Dr. Barbour says. “There’s so much opportunity if you’re willing to put a little work into it.”
