Headed by Dr. Joseph D. Giovinco DPM FACFAS (NYCPM Alumni) and Dr. Chris Menke DPM (TUSPM Alumni), the Atlanta, Georgia based non-profit organizations offered citizens of El Salvador the same standard of podiatric medical care as their United States counterparts.
Equipped with over $25,000 worth of corporate and privately donated medical hardware and supplies in August 2009, the eight day podiatric campaigns effectively treated over 100 patients in a clinical and surgical setting. Although the vast majority of these patients make the pilgrimage to the campaign’s base of operations at the Hospital of Nueva Guadalupe, excursions to rural mountain villages provided the team with an opportunity to offer in-home visits to some of El Salvador’s more financially burdened citizens.
For the trip, after initial treatment and screening, a typical days’ work thereafter consisted of morning surgical rounds, followed by serial castings, clubfoot operations and reconstructive surgeries of the foot and leg. Rather than simply providing transient relief from these podiatric ailments, the central mission is to not only deliver high quality podiatric surgical care to the impoverished, but to empower indigenous health care providers to continue to offer that same level of care themselves by means of training and education.
This continuing effort is made possible by both the local ancillary services offered by the hospital of Nueva Guadalupe, as well as the overwhelming support of local residents and hospital staff. In addition to volunteer translation service and medical assistance, these local citizens also provide travel and housing arrangements to the campaigns members.
Medical Mission: Nueva Guadalupe Hospital, El Salvador August 2009
Medical Mission: Nueva Guadalupe Hospital, El Salvador August 2008
Medical Mission: Hospital de Zacatecoluca, El Salvador May 2007