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.