Operation Rainbow

I just returned from a medical mission to Guatemala with an organization called Operation Rainbow. It was an incredibly eye-opening and deeply moving experience. I was initially approached by our chief residents as the group was looking for an anesthesia resident to accompany them. The brigade of 26 volunteers included 4 surgeons, 3 anesthesiologists, 9 surgical staff (including circulators, scrub nurses, and sterile processing technicians), a physician assistant, orthopedic technicians, a physical therapist, a bioengineer, interpreters, and a medical student. We were going down to Guatemala City to work with a local pediatric foundation to provide orthopedic surgery to kids with a variety of deformities, from rickets to scoliosis to club hands to traumatic nonunions. I was thrilled to do it. One of the great things about anesthesiology is that even in residency, there is flexibility in the scheduling. I signed up hardly knowing what I was getting into.

Logo shown under Fair Use, from operationrainbow.org.