Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics, also spelled orthopaedics, is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. PCRF has sponsored dozens of volunteer orthopedic surgery missions since our founding, mostly in pediatrics but also in joint replacement, spine surgery, and arthroscopic surgery. In the area of pediatric orthopedic surgery, PCRF has been building a program through our Pediatric Orthopedic and Education Training program (POET), which includes training for local young residents in areas where there are gaps in the Palestinian health sector. The head of our POET program and the medical advisory team for PCRF in orthopedics is Dr. Anna Vergun, an assistant professor of pediatric orthopedics at the University of North Carolina.
Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, and electrophysiology. Since 1998, PCRF has been the main NGO in the world sending volunteer pediatric cardiac surgery and cardiology teams to Palestine to provide life-saving open-heart surgery and invasive cardiology procedures for thousands of children. In 1993 we founded a core group of volunteer consultants called the International Palestinian Cardiac Relief Organization (IPRCO) to direct our missions and training for local doctors and nurses, starting in Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, where we set up what is now a working independent program, as well as at the European Gaza Hospital, Shifa Hospital and currently at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. IPCRO is currently headed by Dr. Adil Husain, the chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at the University of Utah.
Neurosurgery, or neurological surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system. PCRF sponsors volunteer surgery teams from all over the world in this specialty, both in pediatric neurosurgery as well as general neurosurgery, working mainly at Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus, the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, and the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis. The head of our neurosurgery medical advisory team is Prof. Alex Zorous, the chief of pediatric neurosurgery at St. Luke's Children's Hospital in Boise, ID.
Plastic surgery is defined as a surgical specialty dedicated to reconstruction of facial and body defects due to birth disorders, trauma, burns, and disease. Plastic surgery is intended to correct dysfunctional areas of the body and is reconstructive in nature. The first PCRF volunteer medical mission was San Diego plastic surgery Dr. Michael Peters in 1996 and since then we have sent dozens of similar teams and provided hundreds of burned and injured children plastic and reconstructive surgery that they otherwise would not get locally.
Hand surgery is the field of medicine that includes the investigation, preservation, and restoration by medical, surgical, and rehabilitative means of all structures of the upper extremity directly affecting the form and function of the hand and wrist. PCRF has developed the area of hand surgery under our POET program, and also sponsored the training of a surgeon from the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah for a one-year fellowship in India in 2017. Thousands of patients in Palestine and Lebanon's refugee camps have had complex hand surgery through our missions. Dr. Scott Oishi, the director of the Center for Excellence in Hand at Scottish Rite Hospital, specializing in hand disorders in Dallas, Texas is the volunteer head of our hand surgery medical advisory team for the West Bank, and Paris-based Prof. Christophe Oberlin heads our Gaza hand surgery efforts.
Pediatric surgery is a subspecialty of general surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. PCRF has sent dozens of volunteer pediatric surgery teams to Palestine and Lebanon's refugee camps from all over the world, treating hundreds of children with birth defects or injuries.
General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal contents including esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland. PCRF has sent dozens of surgery teams to provide training for local doctors as well as complex care for patients who otherwise would not get the care they need locally.
Ophthalmic or Eye surgery, also known as ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa, typically by an ophthalmologist. The eye is a very fragile organ, and requires extreme care before, during, and after a surgical procedure to minimize or prevent further damage. The main focus of our ophthalmic surgery services is at Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus. The head of our medical advisory board in this field is Dr. Francis Nathan from Australia.
Urological surgery is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the male and female urinary-tract system and the male reproductive organs. PCRF has sponsored dozens of volunteer teams from all over the world to provide hundreds of children free pediatric urological care, as well as for other areas of urological surgery, as well as training and equipment for local doctors and hospitals.
Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which diseases of the vascular system, or arteries, veins, and lymphatic circulation, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures, and surgical reconstruction. PCRF has been sponsoring various vascular surgery missions, particularly to Gaza, where high-velocity gunshot injuries often require vascular intervention.
PCRF sponsors medical missions to the Middle East in other specialties, including oncology, pediatrics, speech therapy, and physical rehabilitation.
