MISSION: RESTORE

The goals of Mission: Restore is to create an environment in Africa where surgeons have the knowledge, skills, and support necessary to treat debilitating injuries in their own communities.

Our sustainable model bridges education gaps through surgical trainings, builds networks with telemedicine and supports local change-makers through educational grants. Our expectation is for our surgeons to act as mentors, sharing their newly acquired skills and knowledge with other local surgeons. For example, due to this train-the-trainer model, over the course of one year, we estimate that 250 patients will benefit directly from just one surgeon's new skill set.

Mission: Restore's capacity building model differs from the traditional surgical mission approach where foreign doctors solely perform surgeries without engaging with local hospital staff. Additionally, traditional surgical missions rarely make contact with local physicians between trips. Many of our surgeon educators became frustrated with this model as it only provided immediate relief without addressing larger issues of hospital capacity.

The backbone of Mission: Restore's approach is providing hands on training through U.S. surgeon educators operating alongside local surgeons. Outside of trainings, local surgeons continue to be supported by mentors to further ensure their ability to perform procedures on their own, serving their patients' needs.

In 2018 Mission: Restore accomplished:

-37 Telemedicine Consultations
-4 Surgical Training Trips providing hands-on education
-60 Complex Surgeries overseen by Surgeon Trainers
~Approximately $608,000 worth of service
-103 Local Surgeons Trained (40% women)
-287 hours of in-person surgical training provided from top surgeon trainers