An International Team

From Dr. Michelle Spring, Interplast Webster Fellow:
(Piura, Peru)

We are working very well together. We have a very experienced team; everyone is laid-back and not easily stressed. We are also an international team—Karina is the anesthesiologist from Uruguay and Helena is our Swedish interpreter.  They are both doing an amazing job considering how exhausting it is to communicate in a foreign tongue all day.

I was exhausted after the first day of clinic where we saw approximately 140 patients.  Of the three surgeons present, my Spanish is the weakest. There was no interpreter that day to mitigate the situation but I managed to successfully communicate with the patients.  Despite that I am enjoying my experience here.

We’ve worked on many cleft palates and I have given a lecture to the medical students who showed interested in obtaining a medical residency in the United States. Today, the other team members are giving talks to the local nurses, surgeons and anesthesiologists, respectively.  Then we are going to the beach!