Saving Lives One Case at a Time
It’s day two in the Dominican Republic! Our second medical training visit to the Dominican Republic for the year, and our 18th visit to CEDIMAT since 2020, is well under way thanks to our global network of partners. A special thanks to Chain of Hope UK, Latiendo por Ti, and the Rotary Club of Santo Domingo for making this visit possible.
Gift of Life International CEO, Rob Raylman, opened up the floor at the meeting with some kind words to the visiting and local medical teams. He also introduced our interns to the crowd!
Today our visiting medical teams and the group of interns from Hobart and William Smith Colleges met up this morning to head to CEDIMAT hospital. Here, they gathered with the local medical team to discuss each case for the week in depth.
Juliza, Kelly, Bea, and Lily at the start of the conference.
The visiting and local medical teams gathered along with the rest of the Gift of Life International team, the Rotary Club of Santo Domingo, and the interns today for a meeting to go over the cases for the week.
The girls were able to ask questions and receive answers from visiting intensivist, Dr. Intikhab Zafurallah!
Dr. John Breinholt, Interventionist, stood up to share some ideas he had about a patient during the conference.
The interns engaged in conversation with other Gift of Life team members after the meeting!
The meeting began at 9:00 AM and proceeded until 12 PM. After the meeting, each disciplinary team split up to set up their respective work areas in the hospital. During this time, the interns received a tour of the intensive care unit (ICU) from the ICU’s director herself, Dr. Carisa Nieves.
A Tour of the ICU
The interns and visiting ICU team members received their tour of the CEDIMAT ICU from Dr. Carisa Nieves.
After the tour, the interns, ICU team members, and some of the Rotary Club of Santo Domingo members had the chance to meet a few of the children who will be operated on this week!
Dr. Andrew VanBergen, Intensivist, and intern Kelly speaking with one of the patients who will receive a catheterization procedure this week.
The team met Yareisy, who is scheduled for surgery tomorrow!
Intern Lily gives Ismar her Gift of Life International teddy bear. Ismar will receive her surgery on Friday!
Gearing Up for the Week Ahead!
We have a big week of heart healing coming up! The visiting medical team, local medical team, interns, and other Gift of Life International team members are thrilled to have the chance to make a difference in the lives of the children and their families that we will meet this week. This is an opportunity to make dreams of a normal life and a healthy childhood come true!
The interns posing on the heart statue outside of CEDIMAT hospital.
After leaving the hospital, there was some downtime before a meeting at 5PM. The Gift of Life International team got together for one last meeting and a big team dinner before beginning the week tomorrow.
Team meeting at the hotel.
The Gift of Life International team is eager and optimistic for this week of heart healing ahead!
Click here to read Day One!
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