title: An international surgical exchange program for children with cleft lip/cleft palate in Manaus, Brazil: patient and family expectations of outcome.
abstract: Increasingly, surgeons are traveling from the developed to the developing world to volunteer their services. They can often make an enormous difference in the lives of patients they serve, but they must understand that these patients exist in a sociocultural matrix in which the meaning of the condition they have and the future they face are determined by a host of factors over and above the specific surgery itself. This means that programs in which teams quickly go in and out of a country must take into account and plan for longer term follow-up by colleagues within that country as well as develop and target rehabilitation services and educational messages to ensure maximum benefits from the intervention performed. This study examines the long-term implications of a short-term surgical team intervention for pediatric patients with cleft lip/cleft palate and their families in the Amazon region of Brazil.
authors.affiliation: March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, White Plains, New York 10605, USA. mreeve@marchofdimes.com
authors.forename: Mary-Elizabeth
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Reeve
authors.forename: Nora E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Groce
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Persing
authors.forename: Sheela N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Magge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D003469:Culture; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D014838:Volunteers