The first day of screening went well. It was initially seemed like organized chaos, but somehow everything married into a well-oiled machine cranking out 153 patients both very young and old. There are two surgeon stations staffed by the Opsmile US surgeons with assistance from the Moroccan observers. My co-regan fellow, Clinton, and I evaluated several straight forward cleft lip and palates plus several children with Tessier clefts, Pierre Robin sequence. One particular patient traveled 8 hours via camel and will be posted this week for her bilateral lip repair...she was ecstatic and teared when we assured her we would be able to fix her lip. This is just one of the many stories I experienced today. Our stations provide a unique mix of training from Europe, Italy, and the classic US surgeons who trained under Dr. Millard. Each patient provides a discussion of 2 to 3 different, and equally effective means to fix the defect equaling a fantastic learning experience. Tomorrow will be another pre-screening day with another predicted 250 patients. Stay tuned....
This is the Hospital that graciously shut down for the week for us to perform all our surgeries.
Operation Smile- Morocco banner that is posted all of the country attracting the majority of patients.
Operation Smile Regan fellows: Clinton (Brown University), Alladin (Morocco Plastic Surgeon), and myself
Entrance into the medina (old Fes) adjacent to our hospital.
This is the Hospital that graciously shut down for the week for us to perform all our surgeries.
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