EmergeOrtho surgeon William Sutton, M.D. recently returned from his eighth trip to the Dominican Republic with Medical Missions International (MMI). Dr. Sutton was part of a medical team that converted a relatively primitive clinic into a hospital, where they performed sophisticated general, plastic, orthopedic and GYN surgeries on very appreciative patients.
The orthopedics team also saw patients for a range of musculoskeletal issues and performed soft tissue procedures, such as mass removals, surgical releases and debridements (removing dead tissue or foreign material from a wound to facilitate healing). Spanish translators assisted the medical team with communication.
According to their website, MMI provides spiritual and compassionate health care to people in need worldwide. In 2016, MMI Canada provided 123,190 health care services to 45,815 patients on 47 projects in 14 countries.
In addition to his eight trips to the Dominican Republic, Dr. Sutton has taken international medical mission trips to Haiti, Ecuador and Kenya, and domestically to a Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Locally organized MMI trips typically span two weeks in early June and are led by Wilmington Plastic Surgery physician Kenneth White, M.D. The next trip is scheduled for June 4-18, 2018.
EmergeOrtho applauds Dr. Sutton for sharing his knowledge and expertise in a region of the world that does not have access to the same level of care that we do. He encourages his coworkers at all levels to consider taking an MMI trip in the future.
