SHARING SMILES: FSU PC nurse anesthesia students assist cleft lip and palate surgeries in Mexico

Two students in FSU Panama City’s Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program flew to Mexico in February to “share smiles.”

Alonso Martin Arcadia-Reynoso and Daniel O’Malley volunteered with the AdventHealth Foundation’s “Sharing Smiles” program, a medical charity that provides free corrective surgeries for needy children in Latin America who were born with cleft lips or palates. Their week on-site concluded with a total of 42 procedures benefiting 26 children.

“Unfortunately, some children were not candidates for surgery that week, but the team did everything they could to provide help in other ways, like connecting them with orthodontist services to make the preliminary steps towards having a surgical repair or referring them to a nearby event they were hosting in a neighboring state in a few months,” O’Malley said.

“I witnessed incredible humility and appreciation from every single parent and child that we encountered.” — Alonso Reynoso, DNAP student

For Reynoso, the experience was a “dream come true.” The son of immigrants, he lived for a while as a child in Mexico. His fluent Spanish helped bridge communication gaps for others on the team and provided an additional level of confidence for patients and their families.

“I witnessed incredible humility and appreciation from every single parent and child that we encountered,” Reynoso said. “It was inspiring to see the collaboration amongst everyone, both local and American, that was a part of the effort to help these children in need.”

Sharing Smiles provides corrective surgery and rehabilitation therapy and works in partnership with local public health institutions and private sector leaders to provide comprehensive care for children long after surgery. For more information, visit AdventHealth.com/sharing-smiles.

“Alonso and Dan were fantastic team members,” said Michelle Gross, program manager for Sharing Smiles. “As the trip coordinator, I absolutely loved having them on the trip, and hope they’ll join us again on future trips.”

Gross described the students as “positive, adaptable, great team players, and great with the children and their families.” She said she looked forward to working with more DNAP students on future missions.

CHANGING LIVES

“They are making a meaningful impact,” said DNAP Director Stacey VanDyke, DNP, APRN, CRNA. “I couldn’t be prouder of their dedication and professionalism, and it’s an honor that our school was selected to be part of this mission.”

The nationally accredited DNAP program at FSU Panama City is a rigorous 36-month program focused on patient care before, during and after surgical procedures in a variety of settings. The curriculum highlights the use of critical thinking, clear communication and professionalism while conducting various anesthesia techniques. It places an emphasis on analysis, evaluation, and decision-making skills in all anesthetic areas. For more information, visit pc.fsu.edu/nap.

“The nurse anesthesia program at FSU PC prepared us very well to be detail-oriented and resourceful in the face of complex clinical situations,” Reynoso said. He added that DNAP instilled “a very strong foundation of the principles of nurse anesthesia during our time as students.”

Dr. Chris Dobson, a pediatric anesthesiologist with Sharing Smiles, reached out to VanDyke when two anesthesiologists had to drop out of the Mexico mission unexpectedly. He asked if DNAP could spare two senior students who had done a pediatric rotation as part of their clinical experience.

“We’ve done mission trips over the years, but this is the first time someone reached out to us,” VanDyke said. “It can’t count toward their graduation requirements, but obviously the experience is going to benefit their practice.”

Both students are in the final semester of the doctoral program, which means they were working at clinical sites and preparing for board exams. VanDyke said the clinical sites were incredibly supportive and released them for the mission.

“The knowledge and skills imparted to us by the FSU DNAP program allowed us to recognize and focus on what was important to maintaining the safety and comfort of our patients despite any obstacles or distractions that were presented by unfamiliar equipment, supplies, language, culture and facilities,” O’Malley said.

RECONSTRUCTING SMILES

Their first day, the team screened 57 patients and selected 26 for surgery. The Villahermosa hospital has three operating rooms, Dobson said. With Reynoso and O’Malley assisting on anesthesia, the team was able to run two O.R.’s simultaneously. 

Dobson praised the students’ work: “They both performed magnificently. That is saying something for their first time in a resource-limited environment.”

“Our students have strong foundational knowledge of anesthesia, including special populations like pediatrics,” O’Malley said. “This made it easier to deal with the equipment, supplies, and facilities that were different from what we are used to in the U.S. I think if we were less sound clinically, it would have been harder to deal with being in a foreign country where everything was in a different language, some equipment wasn't available, and other supplies that are disposable to us were being cleaned and reused.”

Sharing Smiles has been active since 1995, Dobson said. The organization puts together multidisciplinary cleft clinics in Mexico, Peru. Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, performing seven trips per year. 

The missions usually manage three to five cases per room per day, for children aged 3 months to teens. The work includes cleft lip and palate repairs, alveolar bone grafting, ENT cases and sometimes cleft rhinoplasties.

The next Sharing Smiles trip, this time to the Dominican Republic, will include DNAP student Rebecca Lisson on the team.

“I expect this mission trip to be a life-changing experience and I’m very eager to serve those in need,” Lisson said. “Anesthesia is provided the same fundamental way, regardless of location; it all comes down to adapting to the available resources. The DNAP program is extremely rigorous, and it’s designed this way to ensure that graduates are proficient and safe anesthesia providers.”