Anesthesiologist to Peru, COM-T Faculty are on the move at Banner- University Medical Center

University of Arizona anesthesiologist Kerry Kreidel, MD, and senior anesthesiology resident Derek Frazier, MD, who both practice at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, are in Peru this month as part of a Healing the Children team providing free surgeries to children with cleft lip or palate. 

It’s the second trip for Dr. Kreidel, who participated with resident Jamie McCulloch, MD, in a similar mission in Lima last year in which 80 corrective procedures were performed in one exhausting, exhilarating week. (They appear in a Healing the Children promotional flyer, at left, and showing their Wildcat pride at Machu Picchu, below).

“I was looking for opportunities to get our residents involved in international outreach for hands-on experience in low-resource environments,” explained Dr. Kreidel, an assistant professor and associate residency program director in the University of Arizona Department of Anesthesiology.

She heard about a Healing the Children surgical team out of Denver seeking volunteer anesthesiologists and signed up. “We did a good job and worked well with them, were invited back this year, and I hope to keep this relationship going.” 

“At the end of the day, it’s tremendously rewarding to help kids who will now be able to feed and grow better, speak functionally and enjoy greater social acceptance, but our long-term goal is teaching locals how to provide this care and working on capacity building and sustainability,” she said.

Release Date: 
10/22/2015 - 8:31am
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