Two members of the Department of Anesthesiology traveled to Guayaquil, Ecuador, in July on a mission trip with the Global Smile Foundation, which provides comprehensive cleft lip and palate care for patients in underserved communities throughout the world.
The team of 67 volunteers from around the world screened 193 patients and performed 61 procedures on 41 patients.
Tony DeStephens, a Simulation Engineer in the Center for Safety, Simulation and Learning Technologies, and Cole Dooley, MD, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, were two of five people from the University of Florida who participated in the 9-day trip. The other three UF team members were Nicolas Chiriboga Salazar, MD, a Pediatric Critical Care Fellow, Audrey Rice, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit RN, and Angela DuPree, Operating Room RN.
DeStephens’ primary role was to assist in running simulation training for health-care providers volunteering with the foundation, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and pediatricians. The training aims to prepare providers for possible emergencies or adverse events while working in an unfamiliar environment.
The simulation training is part of a research study run by two members of UF’s Department of Pediatrics, Jennifer Munoz-Pareja, MD, a pediatric intensivist, and Marie Nader, MD, a resident, examining the ability of simulation training to improve crisis resource management and team dynamics in the global outreach setting.
The trip was the fourth DeStephens has taken this year with the Global Smile Foundation: He traveled to Ecuador in March, Lebanon in April, and Peru in May.
