I am joining the biannual medical mission surgery trip to rural Zambia. This trip is organized by a general surgeon Dr. Peggy Schrieber who has a long-standing relationship with this rural Zambian community, she has been going there for many years to provide medical and surgical services to this underserved population. Twice a year, a group of general surgeons, ob/gyn doctors, anesthesiologists, internists, and nurses join her on that mission trip. It is a remarkable opportunity for me as a general surgery chief resident to get involved with her efforts to help this patient population. On the first few days of the two week trip, a clinic is organized where the patients are seen and evaluated for surgery. Common general surgery conditions encountered are goiters, hernias, biliary disease, lipomas etc. It makes tremendous difference to the community that is remote and does not otherwise have access to this care.
Together with a local Zambian hospital, this mission serves a rural Zambian community in a small town of Mwandi. The local villages surrounding this small hospital await Dr. Schrieber's team’s arrival twice a year. There is usually a long line of patients how have surgical problems that cannot be addressed in this rural setting due to lack of resources and medical professionals. It requires a long travel for these patients to reach a large hospital. This is often not plausible given the remote location of these communities and financial constraints.
This is a very humbling experience of giving that I am very much looking forward to. Growing up in rural foreign country myself, I would like to continue to give back to the rural communities around the world. This mission is important for me to continue provide medical and surgical care to patients that would not have access to it otherwise. I look forward to being a part of this team to continue cultivating the relationship between these communities and the American volunteer doctors as I hear how much they are looking forward to Dr. Schrieber’s team arrival. Additional, this medical mission will allow me to grow as a surgeon and part of the bigger global surgery team, to learn how to perform surgery with minimal resource and how to be efficient with what I have, to improvise. As a future US Air Force surgeon, I look forward to working in resource-limited environment such as this one while making such immense different in these people’s lives.
Zambia Surgery Mission Trip in the remote village of Mwandi was a huge success. In the span of two weeks, we performed a total of 81 minor and major surgeries after triaging hundreds of patients. Some patients travelled for days to be seen, we even had patients from neighboring African countries! It was humbling and gratifying to be able to make a tangible impact in the lives of those people who would not be able to access or afford resources to undergo surgery otherwise. More than half of the surgeries performed were thyroid lobectomies to remove huge goiters which were significantly impacting patients’ lives by effecting their ability to breathe and swallow. Additionally, we performed hysterectomies, myomectomies, hernia repairs, parotidectomies, lipoma and ganglion cyst removals among others. It was an unforgettable experience. Thank you for making this trip possibly for me, Doximity!
