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The Peruvian American
Medical Society, Inc., (PAMS), has conducted medical missions to
Peru since 1994, treating thousands of patients at no charge. Dr.
Efrain Montesinos, Chairman of the Medical Missions Committee of the
PAMS, saw the need for a continuous program, due to a lack of
cardiovascular surgical facilities for the poor in the entire country.
An ad hoc committee undertook a detailed study, which determined
the necessity of creating such a facility at the Hospital Dos de Mayo in
Lima, Peru.
In 1999, San Fernando alumnus, Dr. Montesinos, was
named Director of the new Cardiothoracic Surgical
Program, an ad honorem position at this major teaching
hospital. As a result, the first permanent medical mission program
was launched. With the support of the PAMS, and their San Marcos
University Alumni Chapter, sixty cardiovascular procedures were
performed that year in seven months of work, and in the subsequent
four years, 550 more cardiac procedures were performed on both children and adults. The overwhelming majority of
patients to date suffered from multi-valvular disease, as a sequelae
of rheumatic heart disease or neglected congenital heart disease. The
limiting factor for performing more surgery, is the difficulty in
obtaining donated surgical material such as oxigenators, tubing,
catheters, heart valves and other supplies. In desperate situations
supplies are purchased locally to serve the patients. Patients from
hospitals all over Peru are referred to the Cardiothoracic Surgical
Program. The success rate of the procedures performed by Dr.
Montesinos, Mrs. Montesinos and their team of volunteers are
comparable to standards at major hospitals in the United States. The
Program is a training center for new thoracic and cardiovascular
surgeons in Peru, in affiliation with the San Fernando Medical School
of San Marcos
University.
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