Dr. Ellen Iannoli
I had contacted Mission Doctors Association several years ago, but had been waiting for an opportunity to attend the spring retreat on the other side of the country. I had no idea when I might be able to go on a month-long mission trip; up until now 2 weeks had been the longest trip and 9 days was more common. Suddenly, though, dates became available and the next thing I knew I had an itinerary to Njinikom, Cameroon. 2009 was very strange and full of changes, but in my prayer and in my planning I was very certain that the trip to Cameroon was what God had next for me. I did not have any detail as to why or what God had for me there. I know my calling; it is the same as all the other baptized: Go into all the nations and preach the Gospel. For some, it is to go personally and fulfill this instruction. For others, it is to lend prayer and financial support to other missionaries. For me, for now, it is to lend prayer and financial support to those sharing the love of Christ both here and abroad, to directly share His love with everyone that I contact, and to express solidarity with missionaries abroad through short-term missions.
I had contacted Mission Doctors Association several years ago, but had been waiting for an opportunity to attend the spring retreat on the other side of the country. I had no idea when I might be able to go on a month-long mission trip; up until now 2 weeks had been the longest trip and 9 days was more common. Suddenly, though, dates became available and the next thing I knew I had an itinerary to Njinikom, Cameroon. 2009 was very strange and full of changes, but in my prayer and in my planning I was very certain that the trip to Cameroon was what God had next for me. I did not have any detail as to why or what God had for me there. I know my calling; it is the same as all the other baptized: Go into all the nations and preach the Gospel. For some, it is to go personally and fulfill this instruction. For others, it is to lend prayer and financial support to other missionaries. For me, for now, it is to lend prayer and financial support to those sharing the love of Christ both here and abroad, to directly share His love with everyone that I contact, and to express solidarity with missionaries abroad through short-term missions.
There are 2 fully trained nurse anesthetists at St. Martin de Porres, supporting 2 surgeons: an orthopedic surgeon and a gynecologist, who share the general surgery. The nurse anesthetists express their commitment to improvement and to excellence both through working to obtain whatever anesthesia supplies and equipment that becomes available that the hospital can afford, and by inviting physicians, such as myself, to come and work with them and update their knowledge and skills. The hospital works well with benefactors in Europe and in the U.S. to try to provide the best possible care to the people in Cameroon. Although this remains quite limited when compared to what we see in the U.S., progress is being made. The hospital in Shisong, with a surgical group from Milan, has built a beautiful cardiac center with a fully equipped cardiac surgery suite and catheterization laboratory, and an unrelated mission hospital near Njinikom is working to build an ICU. Organizations such as the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists are also committed to improving anesthesia care in developing countries through supporting education, and the WHO has safe surgery worldwide as a high priority project through working to help hospitals identify priorities and improve communication.
While I was in Njinikom, we worked on improvements in areas in which the Operating Theater staff are already quite committed, including team communication, data collection focusing on safety issues, and neuraxial anesthesia (the best way to use spinals and epidurals). I was the first American anesthesiologist to visit there in quite some time. As American anesthesiologists have some ideas different from the Europeans, the Cameroonian anesthetists have some new things to think about and add to their clinical decision-making.
And I have some new friends and a deeper relationship with Christ.