Peru General Mission

LEAD SURGEON
Dr. Vincent Duron
General Pediatric Surgeon Dr. Vincent Duron, received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

PEDIATRIC DENTIST
Dr. Gabriela Ganoza-Duron, DDS
Faculty at Columbia University Dental School

Each year Dr. Gabriela Ganoza-Duron visits schools and treats children through dental outreach programs. Promoting oral hygiene is key to preventing future illnesses, and a goal we strive to achieve during our mission to Peru.

The Need

Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian Rainforest, it is geographically isolated and only attainable by air and water. 70% of the indigenous population lives in extreme poverty and limited access to health care. Each year we visit Iquitos and provide life-saving surgeries to children who don't have access to it. Training for a pediatric surgeon in Peru is 3 years in comparison to the 8- 9 year training in the United States. Dr. Vincent Duron and his team have mended hundreds of kids since 2015, helping kids with life-threatening illnesses while training local medical partners to become more self-sufficient.

Program Details

Dr. Duron's annual Peru mission focuses on general surgical intervention -- specifically for esophageal atresia, anorectal malformation, hernia, polydactyly and other urological surgeries. Additionally, Dr. Duron provides specialized training to local surgeons and participates in lectures which promotes sustainability within the region of Iquitos. As part of his annual mission, Dr. Duron also works toward establishing a trauma registry aimed at promoting patient safety and encouraging the government to change policies for the benefit of the people.

Travel Details

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Progress And Goals

Emphasis on trip is on sustainability and long-term follow up care provided by the surgeon being trained. Since our visit to Iquitos, we have performed surgeries that would have otherwise not been performed and would have resulted in the suffering of the child and eventually death.

In 2015, Dr. Duron joined Mending Kids for our first Indie Mission to Iquitos, Peru. There was a young pediatric surgeon, Dr. Alex Ponce, who had just graduated from training. The training in Peru for pediatric surgery is only 3 years compared to the US training of 8-9 years. As such, young pediatric surgeons are not equipped to handle complex cases and usually remain under the mentorship of a senior surgeon for assistance in complicated cases during the first several years of their career. As Dr. Ponce has no such assistance, many complicated cases still were referred to Lima. Compounding this, most families in Iquitos have limited resources, they often cannot afford the trip to Lima and so return to their homes with no care for an infant or child. There is also minimal knowledge or resources for pediatric laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery in Iquitos. Since Dr. Duron's visit to Iquitos, he has been training Dr. Ponce in these surgeries and continues to do so.

Peru ​General Mission