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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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