Short-Term International Cleft Outreach

This chapter focuses on short-term (1 day to 8 week) international surgical outreach trips. Short-term surgical outreach must be carefully and thoughtfully planned and executed in order to provide maximum benefit and avoid harm. The approach to short-term outreach is organized into preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative stages, each with different quality considerations. Teams should share a discrete plan to optimize safety and emergency preparedness. Effective utilization of limited resources is critical during overseas outreach. Establishing local partnerships is critical to identify patients and ensure long-term follow-up; once the team arrives, secondary patient screening confirms selected patients are appropriate surgical candidates. Emphasis is placed on establishing programs and policies that provide comprehensive cleft care and strategically build local capacity and sustainability. Helping to establish well-trained, independent local providers should be a major goal of any surgical outreach – short or long term.