Developing a Sustainable Program for Volunteer Surgical Care in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries

Vennila Padmanaban; David Hoffman; Shahid R Aziz; Ziad C Sifri

doi:10.1016/j.coms.2020.04.003

Developing a Sustainable Program for Volunteer Surgical Care in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries

Oral Maxillofac Surg Clin North Am. 2020 Aug;32(3):471-480. doi: 10.1016/j.coms.2020.04.003. Epub 2020 May 29.

Authors

Vennila Padmanaban¹, David Hoffman², Shahid R Aziz³, Ziad C Sifri⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, 150 Bergen Street M232, Newark, NJ 07101, USA. Electronic address: vp379@njms.rutgers.edu.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Staten Island Oral Surgery, 56-C Mason Ave 3rd floor, Staten Island, NY 10305, USA.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, 110 Bergen Street, Room B854, Newark, NJ 07103, USA; Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA; Update Dental College, Aichi Nagar, Khayertek, Turag, 1711, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Smile Bangladesh, P.O. Box 1403, Mountainside, NJ 07092, USA.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, 150 Bergen Street M232, Newark, NJ 07101, USA.

PMID: 32475648
DOI: 10.1016/j.coms.2020.04.003

Abstract

Volunteer medical missions to low-income and middle-income countries have been a popular but unregulated method of providing care to underserved regions of the world as they work to improve surgical capacity. This article addresses various organizational tenets, such as forming a mission statement, selecting a site location, determining funding sources, establishing a team, patient safety, organization, and postoperative care and follow-up.

Keywords: Global surgery; Humanitarian missions; Oral and maxillofacial surgery; Outcomes.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Developing Countries*
Humans
Medical Missions*
Volunteers