I have always wanted to travel to an underserved country and help. I had not thought about Cambodia as a destination but joining Surgeons for Cambodia for a mission offered me an opportunity that was so much more than expected. The people, the culture, the work, have renewed my enthusiasm for surgery. I feel as though I learn more from the young surgeons there than they learn from me. Some of them do remarkable work in less than optimal environments.
SFC Inc. is a non Profit organization helping Cambodian and charity. This is a good NGO to helps for the surgery.
Good work!
SP
Mission #11 will be in January 2023. I will spending my good time with doctors and Prof.
Thank you for giving me as a volunteer with you!
Ben.
Thank you Surgeons for Cambodia Inc. You have done the plastic surgery to my sister in Preah Vihea province since early this years. I believe you'll do more for my sister. I can't wait to greeting you in Phnom Penh by January 2023 on the mission #11.
Thank you very much for your loves!
See you soon doctors.
I spent my good time with Surgeons for Cambodia early this year on the mission to provinces. This is called an amazing experience to work with American doctors in states hospital in Cambodia. I like this job a lots. I can't wait to spend my volunteer with doctors.
Appreciated for your work hard.
I have volunteer with Surgeons for Cambodia is an organization bring many doctors to do the surgeries to the poor Cambodian who has no fund to afford paying the surgery in hospital. This organization is work hard for Cambodia. Thank you very much for your heartfelt support in many ways. I look forward to seeing you again by next mission in January 2023.
Thank you very much Surgeons for Cambodia. For the surgeries mission every year. Your work hard for the country. Thank you once again. Hope to see you for the next mission
My name Denethien Savuddh, my uncle is operated by SFC in Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital very successful since January 2022. I appreciated Doctors for your kind heart and thoughtful to Cambodian who have been ills and less money to pay for the fee. Thank you very much to Surgeons for Cambodia for take a good care to my uncle. Thank you once again. Hopefully see you in next year 2023.
I knew about SFC a couple years ago. I was heard from one of my friend. You had done very great job for Cambodia. This is called an amazing a non-profit organization to help surgeries or poor Cambodians. I appreciated your work hard to Prof. Elliott Brender and Doctors for this an amazing charity. Thank you very much. See you again soon in January 2023.
I got an amazing experiences with this great opportunity that i had ever been in my life. I am currently working with Surgeons for Cambodia, Inc., Is a 501c3 not for profit organization & Cambodia charity Association. Our mission is to improving surgical care in Cambodia. Surgeons for Cambodia has been operation since 2008 (Fourteen years of operation) We have done many successful job in Phnom Penh and provinces. We cover multiple hospitals in the provinces of Cambodia. These hospital are the main hospitals for the provinces. They may have 2 to 3 operating rooms, an emergency room limited resource and equipment. Our new project is aimed to wards continue what we do in Cambodia.
1- Surgical missions to the provincials hospital of Cambodia
2- Dr. Brender's American Surgical Clinic at Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. With your help, we will able to continue our mission which will be in January 2023.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best medical mission trip I ever had.
This group runs very well organized 10-14 days missions for surgeons focused on, you've guessed it, Cambodia. It maintains close links with several local surgical groups thoroughout the country, an the mission runs as a sort of circuit, visiting several hospitals throughout it and checkin upon, advising, training and helping local surgeons who know it well. It gives a participant an excellent chance to see this incredible nation beyond the capital and the tourist hotspots of Siem Reap ( obviously, also included in the schedule).
Cambodia is poor but safe and comfiortable place to travel, and its cultural and natural wonders are matched only by its friendly and easygoing people. SfC has been operating there for many years and its missions run smoothly and efficiently. Your personal and material contribution will do a world of difference.
I have been working with this nonprofit organization from its inception. We have helped so many people living in the provinces who would not have received quality surgical care. It has been our pleasure to work with many talented medical students that have now gone on to be accomplished surgeons. Dr. Elliott deserves credit for creating something that was considered an impossible dream.
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I am so blessed for the opportunity have worked with this wonderful organization. They have helped so many poor Khmer people of Cambodia to get free surgery. They have an awesome, amazing and kindhearted team of doctors and volunteers. I can’t say enough good things about this organization. Thank you Dr. Elliot for helping the poor people of Cambodia .
Dr Brender not only does mission thats that bring surgical care to those who could afford it otherwise, he has setup a clinic in Phnom Penh also. The clinic sees patients twice a week and residents from programs in California get to do rotations there.
I manage a medical nonprofit assisting in Cambodia since 2009. I first became aware of Dr. Brender from his pages training medical students there, and learned about Surgeons for Cambodia. From this encounter, I was able to help arrange several desperately needed surgeries for patients , free of charge and of the highest quality. Our interaction grew over the years, and I am grateful to work cooperatively to help the people. I’ve seen their constant, ongoing efforts at KSFH and many other facilities throughout Cambodia, and all with a focus to train and improve overall quality of care.
It’s vital to trust that a nonprofit is doing the work they portray and using donations as described. I will verify Surgeons for Cambodia is one of those few groups that are exactly what they say, and I have seen not only their direct work, but the improvements resulting from their training and equipment donation.
James D Garcia CEO Share the Health Cambodia
Www.sharethehealthcambodia.org
The founder of this organization is tireless in his efforts to bring quality health care to underserved populations in Cambodia. This organization has cut through red tape, on both sides of the world, and formed partnerships in country as well as in the United States to secure needed equipment and expertise for the Cambodian hospitals and people they serve.
I was an Attending Surgeon volunteer in Cambodia for a total of 6 weeks in 2019 . It was a great experience for me . Surgeons for Cambodia has an excellent program which works on two fronts . 1) It has created a foreign exchange program where American Senior Surgeons and Surgical Resident trainees rotate in Cambodia and work along side with Cambodian Surgeons and their trainees ( including Surgical Residents and Medical students ) while providing surgical care to Cambodian patients at their Charity public Hospital . There is an exchange of information and training methods . The American Surgeons and Surgical Residents provide surgical care to the citizens of Cambodia .The Senior Surgeons also become a resource and help introduce new and different technological assisted procedures to the Cambodian Surgeons . 2) Surgeons for Cambodia has also procured advanced technological equipment ( eg, Laparoscopic , C-Arm tables ) to be used at the local hospitals by the local Surgeons which should result in improved patient care .
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I was a Surgeon volunteer this past month of February 2019. It was a transformative experience for me . This was the first time that I had the opportunity to practice medicine and surgery overseas . Dr Brender and his “on the ground “ semi-permanent staff surgeon Dr Steve Swartz had everything organized so I was welcomed with open arms and my adjustment was easy. What was enduring the most , was the warm welcome and gratitude that I received from the Cambodian people (the Medical-Surgical staff at The affiliated Hospitals, and the patients that we attended to ) . While there , I also had the opportunity to pass on a few tips the Surgical resident trainees from both Cambodia and the USA.I am in my last year of pvt surgical practice and look forward to going back again.
We are lucky to have them in Cambodia to teach and improves lives of the disadvantaged children and adults. Cambodia is lack of many things. Thank you for their surgeons for Cambodia.
My name's Ratana, I am a Cambodian Coordinator for this group and I would like to say thank you to Surgeons for Cambodia @ Dr. Brender for your supports to help my peoples. Your team not event help us with medical care but supports us in many kind of humanity likes Foods packages, house project, clean water project and medical mission to many provinces for free medicines and care too. Thanks a lot and please keep doing this.
I have had the opportunity to work with Surgeons for Cambodia on 3 separate occasions. The program has solidified in many ways. SFC provides donated surgical supplies to hospitals for the poor. We provide teaching of new techniques to Cambodian surgeons with the goals of self sufficiency in the future.
We partner with several departments in operating a free clinic twice a week.
Dr Brender has spearheaded the program and Dr Mok helps with the on the ground operations.
Dr Swartz, a US general surgeon locally based for 18 months, has been instrumental with establishing and maintaining relationships.
Additionally, US surgical residents rotate in to experience surgery in Phnom Penh.
Surgeons For Cambodia accomplishes a wide variety of goals, all to improve the surgical welfare of Cambodians.
This is an incredible program organized by Dr. Brender, who is committed to helping the locals of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. I am currently a general surgery resident who recently returned from a medical mission through this well organized program. Surgeons for Cambodia is dedicated to offering the highest level of medical care to the underserved. Surgeons for Cambodia does not only send physicians to Cambodia, it also coordinates and sends a significant amount of surgical supplies and resources that are desperately needed in Cambodia.
I highly recommend this charity and plan to continue to support this organization after I complete my training.
-DPatel
I had the incredible opportunity to volunteer with Surgeons for Cambodia Inc. Dr. Brender is truly passionate about this cause and clearly has put his heart and soul into making this organization a mutually beneficial experience for the people of Cambodia, the native surgeon's and students at KSFH and the American volunteers.
As a volunteer and American general surgery resident, this experience exposed me to incredibly rare pathology I have only read in textbooks, and to a completely different way of practicing medicine and delivering medical/surgical care. It has provided me an appreciation for the resources available in the United States, but it also has challenged me to imagine how I would manage common medical problems in an underserved and limited-resource facility.
I am forever grateful for my time spent with Surgeons for Cambodia, Inc, and it is an organization that I recommend to any and all of my colleagues.
I spent the entire month of December in 2017 in Cambodia with Surgeons for Cambodia. It was the most pleasurable interesting educational experience I’ve had in a number of years. We were fortunate to be able to I need the Cambodian Surgeons and also ourselves at the same time.
I would highly recommend this activity to anyone With a surgical background who wishes to contribute to the overall health and well-being of the people of Cambodia. I hope to return very shortly for at least another month in either 2019 or 2020.
I am a surgical resident from Los Angeles, and Dr. Brender provided me with the fantastic opportunity to travel to Cambodia to operate there. I worked at Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital with Dr. Swartz for two weeks. I was lucky to perform several operations independently, and teach the Cambodian teams laparoscopic techniques. We also taught them multiple times who to use mesh in their hernia repairs to make them more durable. Had a great time working with the residents, who were very welcoming. Recommend this charity tremendously.
-MK Srour
I spent three weeks at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital (KSFH) under the supervision of two senior American surgeons and an American surgery resident. They provided high-quality, free, medical and surgical care to the Cambodian people in the Dr Brender American surgical clinic and in the operating rooms. The charity was also able to provide a plethora of expensive and high-quality surgical equipment and supplies to aid the provision of surgical care to the hospital.
Whilst KSFH does have their own native well-trained and well-staffed Cambodian surgical team of attendings and residents, the continuing presence of the senior American-trained surgeon was a great resource - he was a font providing the highest-quality expertise, skill, and guidance. The American surgery resident, which rotated into the service on a shorter term basis, was an excellent complement.
For example:
(1) they would often guide and train Cambodian senior surgeons in the operating room when they were using more technologically advanced equipment uncommonly used in Cambodia,
(2) they would operate with Cambodian senior surgeons whenever they asked for assistance in more challenging cases, providing assistance, training and guidance
(3) they would freely give expert advice to all the members of the KSFH surgical department, teaching the native surgeons and ultimately raising the standard of care
(4) they would provide fast, and most importantly, accurate diagnoses to new patients seen in the American surgical clinic. It is noteworthy that the Cambodian surgeons work in challenging settings and so the ability to accurately diagnose can be difficult. The American surgeons provided their intellectual capital which is difficult to quantify, but often made an immeasurable difference to the patients on the back of a correct and accurate diagnosis to start with.
In summary the charity provides Cambodian patients with free, accurate, and fast surgical workups and diagnoses of the highest quality - and subsequently free, high-standard surgery which reduces the morbidity and mortality of the poorest citizens of Cambodia. It also has a role in providing ongoing training and education to the Cambodian surgical team to help raise their own standard of care.
I wish them every success for the future.
I volunteered in 2017 and will be back in 2019. This is an organization that is forming true, durable partnerships with surgeons in Cambodia. They are focused on teaching and increasing the skill set of Cambodian and American surgeons in training.
I am currently living and working in Cambodia with Surgeons for Cambodia. I have been here for 18 months, after originally planning a 3 week stay.
Surgeons for Cambodia has made great changes at the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital where I work. Donated supplies have started a laparoscopic surgery program utilized by General, Thoracic, Gynecologic and Urologic surgeons allowing Cambodian patients to reap the benefits of minimally invasive surgery, including the first laparoscopic Colon resection ever at this hospital!
The training received by the US and Cambodian surgical residents is incredible and the cross cultural learning has been valuable to everyone, including myself.