Philippines

Daet, Philippines – Bay Area Surgical Mission – Stephanie Cizek, MD

Written by Stephanie Cizek, MD, PGY3 at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco OB/GYN Residency Program on a Global Health rotation with Bay Area Surgical Mission in Daet, Philippines.

Mary has fibroids.  Common, benign tumors on the uterus, which for her have grown disproportionately large, causing abdominal pain and heavy bleeding with her periods.  She has lost so much blood that she is chronically anemic, and her fibroids have grown so large on her tiny frame that she appears 20 weeks pregnant.  She has had surgery for this problem before — 15 years ago, a group of surgeons on a surgical mission trip landed near Mary’s hometown in the Philippines for a week to provide free surgery.  She has a large 15cm scar across her abdomen, but the surgery

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Global Health Reflection – Aldene Zeno, MD

Written by Aldene Zeno, MD, PGY4 at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara, Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Program on a Global Health rotation with Bay Area Surgical Mission in Daet, Philippines.

The Bay Area Surgical Mission (BASM) has provided surgical services to patients in the Philippines for over 16 years. It is based at the Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital in Daet, Philippines. The BASM team members were skillful yet humble and loads of fun. We stayed in this amazing hotel owned by the mother of one of the trip leaders. The hotel certainly lived up to its name, “Zenaida’s Palace;” the daily breakfasts, refreshing swimming pool, proximity to the ocean, and evening karaoke were just a few of the things that made me feel like global health team-royalty.

In our first full clinic day and in the times that we saw patients in between cases, our gynecology team acquired a busy service. Most patients were referred to our clinic, and some travelled as far

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Pre-trip thoughts

Posted by Lisa Ryujin, MD (a fourth year Ob/Gyn resident from Kaiser Permanente Oakland in preparation for a global health elective…

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