Baylor College of Medicine orthopedic surgeons not only treat patients during work hours, but also in their spare time. Three Baylor orthopedic surgeons are among numerous health professionals who share a passion for volunteer work, allowing themselves one week per year to visit Guatemala to treat underserved patients.

Faith in Practice is a predominantly faith-based charity organization based in Houston and located in Guatemala. The healthcare system has broken down in huge swaths of Guatemala, which has the fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world, according to the organization’s website.

The national hospitals operate only for a few hours daily, and often close for weeks at a time, as they lack infrastructure necessary to remain open. With the healthcare needs of the country’s most vulnerable not being met, Faith in Practice was established to bring experts from all around the nation to treat these patients.

Drs. Bill Granberry and Jack Dawson pose with a patient in Guatemala for Faith in Practice.

The organization brings different surgical teams to Guatemala to provide general medical screenings and care. Baylor orthopedic surgeons Dr. Melvyn Harrington, Dr. Jack Dawson and Dr. Bill Granberry visit Guatemala annually to perform as many surgeries as possible in the span of a week.

“I’ve been with Faith in Practice for 20 years,” said Granberry, associate professor in the Joseph Barnhart Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor. “It’s an incredible organization, and they have raised money here in Houston to renovate the (operating rooms) down there.”

As a foot and ankle orthopedist, Granberry operates on patients with foot and ankle deformities. Harrington performs total hip and total knee replacements, and Dawson handles femur and tibia shaft non-unions. The trio regularly treats subacute injuries for patients who are not recently injured (some injuries are four or five years old), but have not received treatment or received some level of treatment that did not heal or led to infection.

While Granberry, Harrington and Dawson have been part of the organization for more than a decade, they remark on the challenges they face as surgeons in the South American country. In the past, surgical teams had to procure all tools on their own since the healthcare system was unable to provide the full spectrum of equipment needed, particularly implants for complex cases.

They used to travel heavily with 60 to 70 crates of implants and instruments. This has evolved over the years. An implant company now has a contract with Faith in Practice to provide implants in a stocked warehouse on site in Guatemala.

“We used to have to make do and improvise quite a bit based on what was available; in some cases toward the end of the week, we’d run out of a certain size of implant that would delay a surgery for six months until the next group came,” said Harrington, professor in the Joseph Barnhart Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor. “Now, we don’t have to worry about those delays; if someone shows up and our schedule is already full, we know the next group is coming six weeks later, so they don’t have to wait as long.”

The doctors perform multiple surgeries in seven days, but the follow-up is a challenge. Each surgeon works on complex cases hoping for the best for the patient, but it is difficult to learn about the recovery process – they typically never see their patients again following surgery.

Dr. Melvin Harrington poses with a patient in Guatemala for Faith in Practice.

The traveling team includes surgeons, nurses, scrub techs, anesthesia nurses, recovery room nurses and physical therapists. Residents, fellows and trainees also join and assist with procedures. The surgeons understand the advantage of bringing trainees and residents not only to help, but for the educational benefit of learning how to care for patients.

“Fundamentally, you’re practicing medicine in the way you envisioned practicing medicine as a kid. You’re doing really important things for whom it matters, and it’s a very idealistic week of work,” said Dawson, associate professor in the Joseph Barnhart Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Baylor. “That rewarding experience allows us to improve the lives of our patients here in the U.S. too.”

Harrington praises Faith in Practice’s organization and describes the experience as addictive and gratifying. “Having gone many years now, it’s like a family reunion each trip when you get back together with folks in your group,” he said.

Granberry feels especially drawn to Guatemala due to his previous experience with mission work. “Going to Guatemala has a special attraction for me because when I was in high school, I went there on a mission trip and met Mother Theresa. I’ve always had wonderful visits, and the Guatemalan people have a special place in my heart,” he said.

The surgeons come back from each trip with a new perspective. They look forward to future Faith in Practice missions to Guatemala to serve the people and immerse themselves in the country’s culture.

By Homa Warren

Dr. Melvin Harrington works with healthcare providers in Guatemala for Faith in Practice.