Jeff Acsell (center and back), and the cardiac mission team in Vietnam	Pediatric patient at the National Children's Hospital in Hanoi	Dr. Wang, a Chinese surgeon coordinating Operation Smile China and Michael VanLue	Operation Smile beneficiary

Jeff Acsell and Michael VanLue each recently returned from long journeys to exotic destinations, bringing back colorful photos and equally colorful stories. But neither journey was of the sightseeing variety. Michael boarded a plane in Washington, D.C., flew 14 hours to Beijing, China, followed by another  5 1/2 hour flight to southwestern China, then on to the town of LinChang near the border with Burma. Jeff’s journey was equally as long, taking him to his ultimate destination, Hanoi,Vietnam. Although the routes and destinations differed, the motivations for both trips were parallel: to share the expertise each has in his respective profession with patients and professionals from countries with limited healthcare resources.

The purpose of Jeff’s trip was to assist physicians at the National Children’s Hospital in Hanoi to develop a team approach to cardiac surgery, and to introduce them to new techniques and technologies, thus improving their level of competence. The challenge is that the technological environment is perhaps 40 years behind what we consider to be standard of care in the United States. Available equipment is often under-utilized or not well maintained due to financial constraints and lack of training, and devices meant to be for one-use-only must be re-used repeatedly. Then there is the oppressive heat of an intensive care unit with no air conditioning. Rising to meet these challenges requires the dedication of Vietnamese healthcare workers combined with the commitment of groups such as the team with whom Jeff served. Making the trip possible was the logistical support provided by Resource Exchange International Vietnam, the leadership of Dr. Tain Yen Hsia, a MUSC pediatric cardiac surgeon, and funding provided by the Rotary Club of Charleston and friends of Dr. Hsia. Through their combined efforts, it was possible to assemble a team of specialists including two other pediatric cardiologists, a nurse anesthetist, a scrub nurse, and Jeff, a cardiovascular perfusionist. Together they performed six surgeries in four days on children from 2 weeks old up to eight years, all of whom but one would have been considered inoperable by Vietnamese standards; all of whom are now doing well.

For Michael VanLue the story is similar. As a volunteer for Operation Smile, an international organization dedicated to repairing childhood facial deformities such as cleft lip and/or palate, the trip to China marked his fourth such international journey to share his expertise in speech pathology. Although Operation Smile China was staffed primarily with Chinese healthcare workers, Michael was honored to be one of only four English speaking team members invited to participate. With few speech pathologists in China, and most of those based near Beijing, Michael’s skills were essential to the mission’s success. Working with a team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other healthcare workers, Michael’s team screened 120 patients over twelve days, most of them children who had traveled from throughout Yunnan province seeking care, providing 105 of them with surgical repair. As in Jeff Acsell’s experience in Vietnam, the facilities were far from what U.S. healthcare workers would consider standard of care, but through the collaborative efforts of team members and the many individuals supporting them, care was brought to patients who likely would have never received it. Although limited to one translator, language was never a barrier for a team of professionals united in their efforts to bring healing through shared skills and knowledge. Michael’s mission to China was only one of forty simultaneous Operation Smile missions throughout 25 countries, providing 4,139 surgical repairs during that same time period, offering hope to patients who previously had little.

Different destinations, but parallel journeys. Jeff Acsell and Michael VanLue travelled across the globe to share knowledge that they each share with their CHP students and colleagues on a daily basis. In doing so, they served as ambassadors of not only CHP, but of their professions and our country as well. In addition to the individual patients they helped, they each helped build the capacity of professionals in their host countries, leaving behind a legacy that will continue to benefit others long after their return. Through their efforts they have advanced theirprofessions, expanding the knowledge of their peers while making the world a smaller place for all of us.