I will participate in the VOOM Foundation Open-Heart Medical Mission in Oraifite, Nigeria, from October 16 through October 24, 2026. This will be my third medical mission to this region, reflecting an ongoing commitment to improving access to high-quality surgical and critical care in a setting where specialized healthcare resources remain limited.
I am a double board-certified Surgical Critical Care Intensivist and Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon. During the mission, my primary responsibility will be the postoperative management of patients undergoing complex cardiac surgery. I will care for these patients in the intensive care unit immediately following surgery and continue to participate in their management throughout their postoperative recovery. This includes hemodynamic and respiratory management, recognition and treatment of postoperative complications, resuscitation, ventilator management, and coordination of multidisciplinary critical care.
My commitment to this work is deeply personal. I grew up in Nigeria and experienced firsthand the consequences of limited access to specialized medical care. I lost both of my parents at a young age, including one parent to heart failure. Those experiences have remained an important influence throughout my medical career and have strengthened my commitment to bringing the expertise I have acquired through surgical and critical care training back to communities where access to such care remains limited.
Returning for a third mission allows me to contribute not only to individual patient care but also to the development of a more sustainable system of perioperative and critical care.
The VOOM Foundation serves patients with significant cardiovascular disease who may otherwise have little or no access to definitive cardiac surgical treatment. Many patients face substantial financial and geographic barriers to obtaining specialized care and would be unable to travel internationally for treatment.
Successful cardiac surgery requires much more than the operation itself. These patients frequently require complex postoperative ICU care, including management of mechanical ventilation, vasoactive medications, fluid and hemodynamic abnormalities, arrhythmias, bleeding, renal dysfunction, infection, and other potentially life-threatening complications.
As a Surgical Critical Care Intensivist, I will help provide this essential bridge between the operating room and recovery. I will work alongside the cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, perfusionists, nurses, respiratory therapists, and local physicians to provide comprehensive perioperative care.
An equally important component of the mission is education and knowledge transfer. I will work directly with Nigerian physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, sharing critical-care principles and practical approaches to postoperative cardiac patients. Building local expertise is essential to reducing dependence on visiting mission teams and advancing the long-term goal of a sustainable cardiac surgery and critical care program in the region.
The immediate impact of this mission will be the delivery of cardiac surgical and postoperative critical care to patients who otherwise may not have access to these life-saving services. My role will focus particularly on optimizing postoperative outcomes and identifying and treating complications during the period when cardiac surgical patients are often most vulnerable.
The broader impact extends beyond the patients treated during this mission. Because this will be my third mission to the same region, I have the opportunity to build upon existing relationships with local healthcare professionals rather than participate in a single isolated intervention. Repeated engagement allows for continued education, reinforcement of critical-care practices, and progressive development of local capacity.
My long-term goal is to use my training as a Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon and Surgical Critical Care Intensivist to help strengthen perioperative and critical-care capabilities in Nigeria. Sustainable global health work requires not only providing care but also helping local teams develop the knowledge, confidence, and systems necessary to provide increasingly complex care independently.
Support from the Doximity Foundation would help make it possible for me to return to Oraifite and continue this work. For me, this mission represents a convergence of my professional expertise and personal history: returning to the country where I grew up, and where I experienced the loss of both of my parents at a young age, to provide critically needed surgical intensive care and contribute to a more sustainable system for patients with severe cardiovascular disease.
I am grateful for your consideration and for the opportunity to continue serving this community.
I think the patients, my colleagues, the local staff were all impacted positively by the trip. Our team performed 19 adult open Heart surgeries in a tiny village, and I am grateful to be one of the intensivist during this mission.
