doi:10.7916/8vms-zx29Oral history interview with Craig Spencer, 2021Spencer, Craigoral historiesmixed materialPresidents--United StatesPublic health--International cooperationPublic health--United StatesEbola virus disease--Africa, WestEbola virus disease--Transmission--Africa, WestSpencer, CraigObama, BarackMédecins sans frontières (Association)Craig Spencer reflects on his journey to emergency medicine and global health, and discusses his volunteer service for Doctors Without Borders/Médicins Sans Frontières (MSF) in response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Spencer focuses on the Ebola response efforts mobilized by the U.S. government and international NGOs, and differentiates between measures motivated by national biosecurity concerns and those guided by a concern for global public health. He outlines the economic, political, colonial, developmental, and cultural factors that contributed to the emergence and spread of Ebola in West Africa, and shares memories from his experience working in the MSF Ebola treatment unit in Guéckédou, Guinea. Spencer also remembers his Ebola infection and treatment in New York City, and the media attention his infection provoked. Also discussed are the contribution of Western ignorance of, and condescension toward, West African cultures and traditions to the trajectory of the outbreak and response, the importance of international experience in the training of global public health practitioners, and Spencer's 2015 visit to the White House and participation in post-mortem discussions about the lessons of the intervention with the Obama administration officials who led the U.S. government response