By Tobi Elkin<\/i><\/p>\n
Leading a medical group is not for the fainthearted. The time and investment required to run a practice is already a big job. However, many medical groups go beyond providing day-to-day care to their communities to expand their work into charity services. Medical practitioners who possess compassion, courage, and empathy are \u2014 at the core \u2014 community ambassadors who have the heart and skillset to bridge the disparity gap between affordability and care to all. In this article, we\u2019re profiling medical group leaders who are leading sustainable, community health\u2013based programs to underserved populations throughout the world. These are programs that not only deliver value to patients, but also help keep medical teams inspired to practice excellence.<\/p>\n
A teenager named Muksin is one of a dozen kids, 10 of whom are HIV positive, living in the Karama Connection orphanage in Arusha, a village in Tanzania, East Africa. Suffering from a lesion on the right side of his lower lip, Muksin got lucky. Dr. Jon Mendelsohn, medical director of Cincinnati-based Advanced Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center, came to the orphanage in June 2016 and performed surgery to correct the problem and reconstruct the boy\u2019s lip.<\/p>\n
Mendelsohn did the procedure in a makeshift setup as a dog ran around outside chasing a goat. There were lots of flies. The conditions weren\u2019t ideal, but he made it all work. \u201cSome of the kids\u2019 parents died from HIV-related illnesses, or their parents are too ill to care for them. These children were left to die; some were abused, beaten, or burned,\u201d Mendelsohn said. In some cases, the kids were taking care of their parents.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t Mendelsohn\u2019s first overseas medical mission \u2014 he\u2019s worked in Africa before and in China through the American Academy of Facial, Plastic, and Reconstructive Surgery\u2019s (AFPRS) Face-to-Face program, performing surgeries on kids with disfiguring craniofacial disorders. For Mendelsohn, last year\u2019s trip was a family affair; his wife, daughter, and son accompanied him. His daughter, as well as one of the teenage girls living in the orphanage, even assisted him with the surgery. \u201cAll the supplies were taken right out of our inventory,\u201d he said. He left gloves, sutures, instruments, wound-care supplies, and bacitracin at the orphanage. For aftercare, the head of the orphanage and Mendelsohn\u2019s teenage assistant removed Muksin\u2019s sutures; he called via Skype to check in.<\/p>\n
Mendelsohn\u2019s 20-person practice, which started in 2000, embodies his belief in charitable giving and love of kids. \u201cOne of the things we\u2019ve been talking about is having our team and staff regularly become involved in charitable activities. It\u2019s part of the culture of the practice and will become even more so as we focus on giving back.\u201d<\/p>\n
This type of giving is ingrained in Mendelsohn who established his foundation, The Jon Mendelsohn Foundation for the Arts, more than a decade ago. In December 2016, the staff presented Mendelsohn and his wife with a check for the orphanage, which is run by a woman from Cincinnati, at the practice\u2019s annual holiday dinner. Closer to home, Mendelsohn works with veterans through Faces of Honor, a program sponsored by the AFPRS, and he worked on an Indian girl\u2019s scalp and facial scars at his facility. He hopes to extend his foundation\u2019s local activities to support individual staffers\u2019 favorite causes. The foundation has also contributed to family cancer centers, donated school supplies, and worked closely with kids\u2019 arts programs, among other projects.<\/p>\n
As for the African orphanage, Mendelsohn plans to return with more teams: \u201cI studied HIV and had an uncle who died of AIDs in the \u201980s. This is the beginning of what will be a long-term relationship for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Craig Della Valle, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hip and knee reconstruction and replacement, is part of the 50+ person Chicago-based practice Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR). He\u2019s participated in several international Operation Walk missions, performing hip and knee replacements. The national Operation Walk organization places surgeons in remote areas. A nearly 50-person medical team performs between 50 and 100 hip and knee replacements in three days. Della Valle has gone on six missions in 10 years to Guatemala, India, Peru, and Nicaragua.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe really nice thing is that there\u2019s no problem finding surgeons to do this. People see this as a way to give back,\u201d he said. While Operation Walk fundraises for the majority of the costs involved, each medical professional is required to make a $5,000 donation and cover the costs of his or her plane ticket.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThere\u2019s something really nice about having a specific skill and giving that to someone who wouldn\u2019t have access to that service. Most surgeons feel they take away much more than they\u2019ve given\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something really nice about having a specific skill and giving that to someone who wouldn\u2019t have access to that service. Most surgeons feel they take away much more than they\u2019ve given,\u201d Della Valle said.<\/p>\n
In Peru, he recalled a woman with fused knees that she couldn\u2019t bend. His team did one knee replacement, then flew back to do the second knee three months later.<\/p>\n
Foot Care For Shelter Residents<\/h4>\n
Soles4Souls, also associated with MOR, is a program led by foot and ankle physicians, along with more than 40 med students, residents, and physician assistants that is now in its 10th year. The team visits a large homeless shelter on Chicago\u2019s west side each year. Last November, the team provided foot care, new shoes, and socks to shelter residents at Franciscan House of Mary and Joseph. While the Soles4Souls organization donates the shoes and socks, MOR physicians purchase even more with their funds and donations from patients.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s just human nature to want to help others when you see someone that is in need. We are fortunate to be uniquely positioned to coordinate the efforts of several large organizations with abundant resources and combine this with our expertise to provide an impactful event for people who struggle to take care of their feet. Nothing will take away the harsh Chicago winter, but hopefully, we can at least lighten the load through our efforts\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Participating foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Johnny Lin said: \u201cI think it\u2019s just human nature to want to help others when you see someone that is in need. We are fortunate to be uniquely positioned to coordinate the efforts of several large organizations with abundant resources and combine this with our expertise to provide an impactful event for people who struggle to take care of their feet. Nothing will take away the harsh Chicago winter, but hopefully, we can at least lighten the load through our efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Nikhil Verma, a sports medicine surgeon associated with MOR, performed pro bono surgery this fall on two Sudanese refugee basketball players at Chicago-based Gold Coast Surgicenter, a 35+ provider practice. The teenagers, who left the Sudan to attend school and a basketball academy in Florida, traveled to Chicago to receive shoulder and knee surgery to help them continue to play basketball. \u201cWhat was interesting to me is that kids are kids no matter where they are and where they come from. At the end of the day, their passion is basketball, and sports is a unifying agent,\u201d Verma said.<\/p>\n
Farther afield, Verma has traveled to India once a year for the last five years to offer education on arthroscopy, which includes pro bono surgery on patients.<\/p>\n
In India, Eye Clinics Are Common<\/h4>\n
In India, there\u2019s a tradition of ophthalmologists donating their services to eye camps throughout the country, according to Dr. Ittyerah Tholath, a retired ophthalmologist who works part-time in four hospitals in Kerala, in Southern India on the Malabar Coast. \u201cThe general pattern of eye camps in India is to take medical care to the doorsteps of the needy and poor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Tholath said that many hospitals in India run the camps as weekend programs; teams of doctors and other medical personnel visit a school or other designated location to screen patients for disease, prescription glasses, and dispense medicine. In some camps, glasses are supplied at a subsidized rate or for free. Patients who need surgery receive it at base hospitals free of cost.<\/p>\n
Community-based Health Initiatives Close to Home<\/h4>\n
Henry Schein Medical, Inc., a provider of medical, dental, and veterinary supplies, along with vaccines and other pharmaceuticals, runs a unique program called Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Communities through Henry Schein Cares, the company\u2019s global social responsibility effort, and its nonprofit Henry Schein Cares Foundation. Partnering with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Henry Schein Medical teamed up with 14 local community health centers in 2016.<\/p>\n
One of the largest events of 2016 took place in the Bronx in New York City where Schein teamed up with Urban Health Plan, a community health center with more than 100 providers that serves patients in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Schein and NACHC fund grants to health centers, like Urban Health Plan, to help increase awareness of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.<\/p>\n