Operation International has been working with the leadership at both College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University and the Teaching Hospital, Bahir Dar University for several months to establish bases for our teams at two sites in Ethiopia. The goal is to have a long-term prsence there to allow for our teams to provide care to the local patients, particularly complex cases, train the local staff, and at the same time establish and institute patient care protocols to help improve outcomes. The first mission will take place in the Felege Hiwot Hospital located in Bahir Dar. The first team that will go there is Team NY, which has several surgeons with wide of expertise including general surgery, pediatric surgery, maxillofacial surgery, and Obstretrics and Gynaecology. The team is expected perform approximately 100 complex cases. There will be both hands on training and lectures conducted during the mission, and we expect to train 20 physicians and close to 50 nursing staff.
The team will serve the poor patients who either unable to pay for treatment and/or those with complicated conditions that exceed the expertise of the local doctors
The mission will impact many people in different ways. The patients who have been unable to get treatment will get it, which doesnot only impact them, but also their families and communities. The local doctors and nurses will receive hands-on training which should improve their ability to provide care to thier patients. The donated equipment will help docotrs provide safer outcomes to their patients. Generally speaking, it is very difficult to quantify the impact a team like ours will have on the communities we serve as simple things like inspiring younger generation that can have ripple effects and difficult to quantify.
Operation International Team NY mission to Bahar Dar, Ethiopia from 5/14-5/24/26 was another successful project. More than 100 surgeries were done and all the patients did well. We faced many challenges such as lack of OR lights requiring the team to buy flood lights from the local market and taping them to the light stands. We worked closely with the local surgeons, nurses, anesthetists and other OR staff and their dedication and hardwork in caring for their community was an inspiration to us all. We learned many lessons on how to be resourceful in caring for the patients with minimal supplies. We also shared our surgical experiences with the local team and taught them how to use the surgical devices that we donated to the hospital. The commitment of the hospital and the entire team made us believe that Bahar Dar can become another site for multiple OI teams to visit. Thank you to the Doximity foundation for helping with the travel costs and in turn helping the many patients of Bahar dar. We couldn’t have done the mission without the generous support from foundations like Doximity. We thank you on behalf of the entire OI team and the patients and community of Bahar Dar, Ethiopia. THANK YOU
