A New Generation of Cancer Surgeons for Bolivia
This week our General Surgery Program continues its focus on expanding access to care for patients suffering some of the most complex and devastating abdominal cancers. This is the fourth mission trip hosted by the Cancer Institute of Eastern Bolivia in Santa Cruz. Their staff have aimed to take advantage of the expertise of veteran missioner, Dr. Malcolm Bilimoria by pre-selecting patients who are in need of especially challenging surgeries to remove pancreatic, liver, and other abdominal tumors.
Our team soaking in the beautiful scenery of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Our six-member team includes Dr. Bilimoria, oncological surgeon from Northwest Community Hospital (NCH) in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and three first-time missioners—from NCH, Allie Zern, Surgical PA and Helena Donley, English-Spanish interpreter, and from Billings, Montana, Dr. Andrew Curtis, anesthesiologist. From Solidarity Bridge, the team is led by Jodi Grahl and accompanied by Megan Kennedy-Farrell. Local organization is managed by Puente de Solidaridad staff including Marcela Canedo, Carmen Salses, Desiree Mendez, and Wendy Zeballos.
We are especially pleased this year to be working closely with a number of surgical residents and newly-certified surgeons. Bolivian doctors interested in pursuing sub-specialized training such as oncological surgery have very limited training options in-country, in part because of the country’s small size and limited senior surgical workforce. Yet not all talented young doctors can afford to pursue a fellowship abroad. Our mission trip offers an opportunity for these doctors to operate alongside a surgeon who has performed thousands of the most difficult pancreatic and hepatobiliary surgical procedures. We had met several of these young doctors in 2023, and Dr. Bilimoria was pleased to observe them demonstrating skills learned then. Some who were residents in 2023 are now attending physicians, also passionate about passing along their skills to the upcoming cohort.
A team of residents and newly certified surgeons had been charged with pre-selecting and preparing the patients for surgery during our visit. Most of the cases had been reviewed ahead of time by the US and Bolivian teams, but each case and a few new patients were presented and discussed in further detail on our first morning in the hospital.
Resident Dr. Katherine Peñafiel, surgeon Dr. Susan Mariel Aviles, and Dr. Bilimoria worked together to resect a large ovarian cyst.
All six hands were needed as Dr. Bilimoria (with headlamp), surgical resident Dr. Mario Tapia, and surgeon Dr. Renan Mena, performed a pancreatectomy and cholecystojejunostomy on a 20-year-old patient with pancreatic cancer. Three other residents observed the 5-hour surgery.