Our friend Dr. Caulian in Davao City in the Philippines worked with residents to successfully perform surgery independently after our training visit. We were able to help by sourcing the equipment needed to help one gentleman named Leo get the relief he needed after suffering trauma. Thanks to the generous support from Depuy-Synthes, Leo will have a positive outcome and go back to living his active life!
Along with some residents, our friend Dr. Cauilan in Davao City in the Philippines successfully performed three surgeries independently after our training visit. We were also able to source the equipment needed to help these people who had suffered trauma. Thanks to generous support from Nuvasive, these patients will all have a positive outcome and will recover from their injuries. Let’s meet them!
Orthopedic Link is happy to share this great information on a new hospital we are helping to support. Learn about Green Pastures Hospital in Nepal!
The International Pediatric Spine Mission reached out to us this past December to see if we had equipment to help 2 children in El Salvador who were nearly paralyzed by spinal defects. We are happy to say that we were able to come in at the last moment to donate the sets they needed for life-changing cervical surgery. We’re calling it serendipity because we don’t always have what’s needed on hand, but this time we were all in luck! It took a bit of networking with Medicraft, our local Medtronic distributor, and Depuy-Synthes who donated the implants to make it all come together.
I had the great pleasure of being invited to speak at the 1st Annual Conference of the Association of Spine Surgeons of Nepal (ASSN) this fall. I was able to meet old friends such as Dr. Dipak Maharjan, from our Orthopedic Link site in Tansen, Nepal and Dr. Theodore Wagner from the University of Washington in Seattle, in addition to making new contacts such as Dr. Rabindra Pradhan and Dr. Rohit Pokharel, who were instrumental in starting the ASSN, and in caring for the people of Kathmandu after the earthquake.
Pitchou Malaba was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. For the last twenty years, the country’s underground minerals have brought relentless wars and refugee camps in war zone areas. Almost 6 million people have been killed as a result of these conflicts, and Pitchou himself survived in a refugee camp for five years. As a result of his experiences in his younger life, Pitchou has found a perfect vocation as an Ambassador for NuVasive Spine Foundation. We at Orthopaedic Link are fortunate to work with Pitchou often.
The NuVasive Spine Foundation has been one of our greatest allies in our effort to bring life-changing spine surgery to disadvantaged communities the world over. We work together frequently as we share deeply held values—we believe that it is our responsibility to bring our expertise in orthopaedic surgery to those who need it most.
NuVasive’s focus is on providing access to high quality medical treatment to individuals around the globe. They work together with other surgeons to create spine treatment programs that not only help people in need, but also serve to advance the quality of spine care to disadvantaged communities in general.
During her trip to the Philippines, Dr. Ananthakrishnan had a chance to catch up with Natalie Richards, an Operating Room Surgical Tech, whose job it is to prepare the rooms and equipment before surgical procedures begin. Natalie makes sure that all of the equipment needed for the procedure is sterilized, assembled and in excellent working condition. She also helps with sterile surgical draping before surgery.
Herschmanniella is an 11 year-old girl in the 5th grade. She lives in General Santos City with her parents and her two younger brothers. She was born with a hemivertebrae, which is a congenital problem that has been worsening throughout her young life, causing her pain and deformity. Her desperate parents brought to her many doctors and did a lot of research over the years trying to find a way to help their little girl, but it was all to no avail. They were even willing to travel anywhere and go into enormous debt to bring her relief and stop her defect from getting worse as she grows. Luckily for this family, Orthopaedic Link was able to step in and make a difference.
Spotlight on Philip Hwang
Preparation and perseverance are daily foundations for Philip Hwang. As a medical device sales consultant for Medtronic Spine, he has to be ready and knowledgeable before surgeons even enter the room. The right hands for the job are important, and so are the tools that are in those hands. Philip has worked to ensure that the value of great prep and planning is recognized and he has seen the success that comes with it. In fact, Philip was instrumental in getting Orthopedic Link going. He helped us get our initial donation of Medtronic implants for the Philippines in 2008.
Read More »