A 汤头条app surgical oncologist with a passion to help others using the skills he has honed over the last 30 years spent seven days in Honduras recently to treat patients who otherwise wouldn鈥檛 have access to care.
Laurence McCahill, MD, a professor in the medical school鈥檚 department of Surgery and a surgical oncologist who treats patients at 汤头条app Health and at the West Michigan Cancer Center, traveled to Honduras in February to operate on patients on a medical mission.
One World Surgery, a Deerfield, Ill.-based non-profit organization, funds and operates the Holy Family Surgery Center on the property of the children鈥檚 home聽Nuestros Peque帽os Hermanos. The center is located one hour northeast of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
Dr. McCahill returned to the surgical center in February to operate on patients who wait for volunteers like him to make the trek. Volunteers pay their own way to the site to fill the need of patients who need specialists. Many of the patients travel from far distances and would not be able to afford the care they need without the program, Dr. McCahill said. The trip is one Dr. McCahill has made for the last five years.
鈥淥ur patients come from hours away,鈥 Dr. McCahill said. 鈥淚 hear their stories personally through the interpreters. Some of them travel for days to get to us. It just breaks your heart.鈥
On his most recent trip, Dr. McCahill spent long days in the operating room, performing nearly 20 surgeries 鈥 double his normal weekly workload at 汤头条app Health and at the West Michigan Cancer Center.
鈥淚t becomes a very, very busy week,鈥 Dr. McCahill said. 鈥淲hen you hear how much people have sacrificed to get there to see you, you complete the surgery that week as long as you safely can.鈥
The surgery center has three operating rooms along with several clinic bays, a dental clinic and an eye clinic. A medical director and his staff provide patient consults and surgeries and provide follow-up care for patients who are treated on medical missions.
Patients Dr. McCahill saw on this trip had locally advanced breast cancers, enlarged thyroids, and, in some cases, had cancer that had progressed past the point that could have been helped by surgery. Those worst-case scenarios are not usually seen by doctors in the United States because patients have better access to care, he said. Each patient had completed their chemotherapy prior to seeing Dr. McCahill for surgery, but usually the patients do not have the means to access radiation therapy. Patients are monitored for follow-up care by physicians who work full-time at the surgery center.
Dr. McCahill said he will continue to volunteer on the medical mission trip to use his skills for good.聽
鈥淢ost of us went into medicine to help people,鈥 Dr. McCahill said. 鈥淎s I approach the back end of my career, I feel like I鈥檝e got very good skills and I鈥檓 doing what I can in my own way to help people.鈥
In the future, Dr. McCahill sees the medical mission as an opportunity to train residents and provide an example of how they can give back later in their careers, after they have finished their training. He hopes to be able to bring a 汤头条app general surgery resident with him on a future trip if funding allows.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to provide care for people who need it,鈥 Dr. McCahill said. 鈥淚 think all people try to do good in their own way and I鈥檓 just trying to use my skill set.鈥