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Postcard from Guatemala

  Drs. Meena Said and Marjorie Fine
 

Drs. Meena Said (left) and Marjorie Fine perform a parathyroidectomy operation at UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center.
Photo: Courtesy of Dr. Meena Said

by Marjorie Fine, MD

Marjorie Fine, MD’75 (RES ’80), was the first woman to complete the general surgical residency at UCLA. She practiced in Santa Monica in a single-specialty group until joining the UCLA surgical faculty in 2012. Since 1992, Dr. Fine has volunteered on the admissions committee for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She was chief of surgery at UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center and general-surgery section chief at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. She now works part time and lives locally.

For the last decade, first as a volunteer and then as a nondenominational mission leader, I have brought volunteer teams of specialty surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and lay volunteers to underserved foreign provinces to deliver direct patient care. In these settings, there is no infrastructure, no paperwork and no committees; patients in need of surgical care are the only requirement.

Last summer, Meena Said, MD ’06, joined me for a successful mission in Amatitlán, Guatemala. The mission was organized by Aloha Medical Mission. Like me, Dr. Said is surgically trained and practices in Santa Monica, California. We worked for 10 days with the team, performing gallbladder, hernia, gynecologic and plastic surgical procedures. Despite the use of older open techniques for cholecystectomies, the patients left the hospital ambulatory within 48 hours, happily walking home with modest, temporary medication to resume their lives free of symptoms. One child who underwent eight tooth extractions, under general anesthesia, by our pediatric dentist was infection- and pain-free for the first time in years. For many patients, this was the only personal medical care they had ever received. The smiles and gratitude were overflowing, along with hugs for the team.

UCLA has an impact on health from the local seaside to countries around the world. Not bad for a couple of local girls turned surgeons.

For more information, visit the Aloha Medical Mission website.

 


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Spring 2016

Spring 2016
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IN THIS ISSUE
  • The Year that Was
  • A Joyful Return for Las Mariítas
  • A Better Stem Cell for Regenerative Medicine
  • Our Ancestors Probably Didn’t Get Eight Hours of Sleep a Night, Either
  • Progress toward Healing Scarred Hearts
  • BMI a Poor Measure of Health
  • Untapped Brain-cell Region Offers Goldmine of Drug Targets for Autism Treatments
  • Electric Patch Holds Promise for Treating PTS
  • New Strategy to Fight Ovarian Cancer
  • Frequent Use of Post-acute Care Associated with Higher Readmission
  • BPA Replacement in Plastic Accelerates Embryonic Development, Disrupts Reproductive System
  • Happy Feet, Happy Hearts
  • Healing the Invisible Wounds
  • Listen to the Voices Within
  • Rx for the Future
  • A Long and Winding Road
  • Honors & Awards
  • In Memoriam
  • A Late-in-Life Gift of Song
  • Reflections: Volunteering at the Venice Family Clinic
  • In Her Own Words: Blanca Samira Campos, MD (RES ’11)
  • Postcard from Guatemala
  • Celebrating the Generous Philanthropy of Wendy and Leonard Goldberg
  • Former UCLA Physician Establishes Neuroscience Chairs
  • Leaders of Tomorrow Scholars Dinner Honors Medical Students
  • Patient Center Named for Performers Lawrence and Gormé
  • World Presidents Organization Experiences UCLA Health for a Day
  • Advancing Research on Women’s Health
  • “Let’s Talk” Series Addresses Women’s Heart Disease
  • Holiday Spirit at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA
  • Gifts
  • In Memoriam
  • Special Delivery
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