International Outreach

Changing the Face of the Future, One Child at a Time

...humanitarian surgical missions to less developed countries
Dr. Peter Adamson

A surgical team of seven was sent to Ulyanovsk, Russia in May 2012, as well as a team of ten to celebrate the 20th anniversary to Ekaterinburg, Russia in October 2012. The Foundation also had a pilot mission to Antigua, Guatemala in April 2012 and another pilot mission to Kigali, Rwanda in July 2012. They will be sending a mission of seven to Kigali, Rwanda in early February 2013 and have another similar-sized mission to Ulyanovsk, Russia in June 2013.

The focus of their mission is to operate on children with congenital, traumatic or post-ablative facial deformities. They have also extended their mandate to take other surgeons and paramedical professionals such as anesthesiologists, oculoplastic surgeons, speech pathologists, social workers, etc. so that they might not only improve the care of the individual child but also teach the local surgeons so that over time their standards of care can be elevated.

For more information visit their website at https://www.facethefuturefoundation.ca/

Click here to read the Winter 2019 Newsletter

Building bridges of professional networks....

Dr. Arnold Noyek

The Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO) is a Canadian registered, charitable, non-governmental organization (NGO), based at the University of Toronto at the Faculty of Medicine and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and at York University in the Faculty of Health.

CISEPO's mission is to promote international development by advancing health education, health care, health care systems, scientific exchange, research and public health thus connecting Canada to over 45 countries globally.

for more information visit their website at
www.cisepo.ca

Smile China is a Canadian based international organization performing cleft palate and lip surgery to kids in rural areas of China whose families could never afford to pay the costs themselves. Founded by internationally renowned Torontonian Dr. Joseph Wong, the Smile China Project takes volunteer doctors, nurses and support staff from around the globe to China. The team brings state of the art techniques to disadvantaged children whose lives are immeasurably improved as a result.
 
Smile China works in cooperation with local medical authorities, sharing their expertise and experience, so that they may carry on such charitable work in their own country.

Our vision is to reach these children while encouraging communities to develop self-sufficiency and independence. Our hope is to ultimately change the social responsibility mentality in the country, to encourage and recognize philanthropy so that Chinese doctors will be able to respond to problems in their own community year-round.

Ambrose Lee

Dr. Lee participated in a volunteer ear camp mission held in Zanzibar in May 2016.  It was funded by IMPACT which is a charitable organization from the United Kingdom.

John Rutka

Underserviced Areas Program (UAP) care in otolaryngology has been provided to the community of Sioux Lookout, Ontario since 1986 in an ongoing and continued basis.  The community of Dryden has also received similar UAP care since 2003.  The intent is to provide specialty care to those isolated by geography of Northwestern Ontario who would find it difficult to travel to major centres.  Patients are seen in their communities with medical and surgical care provided at their local hospital.  Patients with more serious problems are triaged and referred to major centres for the appropriate care. This initiative has also afforded regional care to our Fist Nations communities who overall have a higher burden of medical problems based largely on the impoverished conditions they live in.  We have been able to provide ongoing continuing education to the community family physicians in all matters pertaining to our specialty. It would seem no exaggeration to say that we have provided care in the order of tens of thousands of patient visits during our extended quarterly visits to each community over the years.  Fellows from the University Health Network Otology/Neurotology program and our residents in Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto have all taken part in these activities.  In return they have provided greater care to those in need, appreciated the problems facing the delivery of medical care in a remote rural setting and gained a greater love for the natural beauty of our great country.  

To compliment our work in Northern Ontario we have also had an ongoing affiliation with the Thai Rural Ear Nose and Throat Foundation. This is an organization under royal patronage from the Thai monarchy and its mission has been to provide ear surgical care to those in need not only in Thailand but across the international borders to those in remote communities in Southeast Asia where ear disease still proves a lethal condition and a major contributor to individuals Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). The efforts of our Thai colleagues have been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an exemplary model of integrated care delivered by mobile surgical units utilizing the existing infrastructure at small district hospitals. Here, ear care and education is brought directly to the patient. For our part we have provided the surgical skills necessary to treat those with ear disease when we attend the ear camps. We also strive to further educate our colleagues in methods of advanced ear surgery during the ear camps and have to establish fellowship training for graduates from Thailand in Toronto. We have continued to provide further funding to help promote the foundation's work on a yearly basis since 1990. University of Toronto fellows and residents have taken part in the provision of ear surgical care in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.  Further afield over the past year we have also worked in Nepal with Ear Aid Nepal in one of their ear camps and look forward to further liaisons with this organization in the future.

Vincent Lin

In the fall of 2015, I went on a short term medical mission to Kijabe Hospital, Kijabe, Kenya. This trip was coordinated through Samaritan's Purse which is a Christian medical charity that runs medical programs around the world as well as provides emergency medical aid during natural disasters. It is run by Franklin Graham, the son of the wellknown evangelist, Billy Graham. I went with two of my friends/colleagues I met during my fellowship years in Seattle, Drs. Andrew Chang (anesthesia) and Jim Yamashita (general surgery).

During our two weeks, we provided clinical and surgical services to the patients at Kijabe Hospital. The hospital itself was celebrating it's 100th year anniversary during that time. Initially it was started by the African Inland Mission and is now run by the African Inland Church (AIC). It is a 360 bed hospital offering both general and subspecialty care including neurosurgery, otolaryngology - head & neck surgery, orthopedics, Ob-Gyn, urology, ophthalmology and plastic surgery.

Specifically I worked alongside a full time otolaryngologist, Dr. David Nolen who is an American trained at Duke with fellowship training at UC Davis in head & neck oncology.

During my time there, I performed mainly otologic cases such as revision tympanomastoidectomies, tympanoplasties, and ossiculoplasties. There was also a busy outpatient clinic and I saw both adult and pediatric ear cases.

From a personal standpoint, I went to Africa for many reasons. The first is to gain experience with less developed parts of the world and help in whatever way I can. I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and help colleagues and patients from this severely underserviced area. However, in retrospect, I can truly say that from what I gave, I received more back from the memories, experiences and gratitude I obtained during that short time period. I developed a very strong bond to the people of Kenya and the plan is to return in 2017 for another trip.

Yvonne Chan

Resource Exchange International (REI) is an international not-for-profit educational organization that has been working in Vietnam since 1992 to “build people to build a nation.” Over the years, over 350 professionals from various fields have travelled to Vietnam to help develop local expertise in areas such as medicine, veterinary sciences, business, and English education.

In March 2014, I joined Dr. Brent Senior’s (Rhinologist from UNC) team on his 17th annual humanitarian trip to Ho Chi Minh City for 1 week. It was a busy week for our team which consisted of 2 Rhinologists, 1 Rhinology fel- low, 1 neurosurgeon, 1 otologist, 1 pediatric fellow, 1 neurosurgery fellow, and a pediatric resident. We started our 1st day with a 2-day course “Update in Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery Workshop at Phar Ngoc Thach University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam”. Following the morning lectures we divided into teams and travelled to different hospitals for patient consultations and surgeries. The surgeries we performed included endoscopic sinus surgery procedures for mucoceles, chronic rhinosinusitis, nasal polyposis, septal deviation, and pituitary adenomas. Given the large population in Ho Chi Minh City, there is an emphasis placed on seeing as many patients as possible since the ENT Hospital in the city would see over 1200 patients in 1 day. In between our hectic schedules of lectures, patients, and OR, we always manage a proper sit-down hot meal for lunch and tea breaks.