I am a consultant paediatric orthopaedic surgeon from the UK with an interest in neuromuscular (cerebral palsy) and upper limb reconstruction. I am fortunate to have first worked at CSC when I was the Kadoori fellow in 2019. It has been my privilege to continue to visit CSC's amazing hospital in Cambodia every year since then as part of a specialist upper limb team to continue to help train dedicated local surgeons to deliver advanced surgical care to patients with various disabilities at minimal cost. CSC although small, is the only centre in Cambodia reliably providing surgical treatment for many complex nerve and paediatric problems including spastic upper limb with multilevel surgery tendon transfers and highly selective neurectomy. One of the challenges is in retaining highly trained surgeons who often leave for better remuneration elsewhere. These links continue to help train young surgeons and encourage local retention of skills in the long term. Please support CSC so they can continue this essential and much needed work!Sara DormanConsultant Paediatric Orthopaedic SurgeonUK
I have visited The Children's Surgical Center in Phnom Penh Cambodia many times and I am always impressed with everyone's dedication.
Wonderful care is given to those who are very poor and would never have the chance to be made well again if it wasn't for the great staff at CSC. Well done to you all. Every donation makes a huge difference to so many.
Cambodians who are unable to afford healthcare can receive life-saving surgery at this charity hospital for no cost or low cost. They also train local surgeons and medical students to sustain the knowledge. Visiting surgeons from all over the world go to CSC to train the local surgeons, who do fantastic work for Cambodians who would otherwise not be able to afford the surgery.
I worked here in 2016-2017 as an ENT surgeon training the local team. The staff are dedicated to the highest standards of care for their patients, and the is the leading place in the country for ear surgery.
I volunteer for Children's Surgical Centre to write grants and raise money to provide essential medical services to underserved Cambodians. By raising funds for the hospital, I help benefit disabled Cambodians in need. The money/grants go towards medical supplies, equipment, patient care, and the training of local doctors. Anyone who visits CSC or reads about them on their website will understand the desire to give back to those who need medical care and cannot afford it.
I am a retired physician and have volunteered at CSC for 16 years. CSC is most deserving of this honor as it provides free or low-cost surgery and rehabilitation for Cambodians with physical disabilities who cannot afford care. They offer reconstructive surgery for burns, skin contractures, fractures, unhealed wounds, eye surgery and ear, nose, and throat surgery. Cambodians who otherwise would not be able to find a job due to their disability benefit from the generosity of this hospital and its donors. This helps to reduce poverty in a country that still struggles from the ravages of the Khmer Rouge brutal 4-year rule in the 1970s
I have volunteered with this hospital for over 20 years now. I have seen nothing but the most compassionate high quality care given in my time there. The mix of Cambodian and visiting medical staff is wonderful and a lot of learning and cutting edge medical care goes on.
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Amazing organization. Top physicians from all over the world have helped train the resident Cambodian physicians, thus building continuity and capability. Patients who would otherwise have a dismal future are able to function again from surgeries across a wide spectrum of simple to very complex surgeries across multiple specialties. The Children’s Surgical Centre is incredibly worthwhile for many people of all ages, not just children.
The Children's Surgical Centre provides the whole spectrum of orthopaedic and plastic-reconstructive surgery for the Cambodian population including spine surgery and microsurgical reconstruction for congenital and aquired defects or disorders. The care for the patients and the knowedge of the doctors is amazing and they truly change the life of their patients.
It has been my privilege to visit CSC's amazing hospital in Cambodia every year with my surgical team for the last 10 years to work with and train dedicated surgeons providing advanced surgical care to patients with various disabilities at minimal cost. To this day, because of our combined efforts, this tiny hospital is still the only center in Cambodia reliably providing brachial plexus reconstruction surgery including nerve transfers and free muscle transfers, and also surgical treatment for spastic upper and lower limb paralysis with tendon transfers and highly selective neurectomy. They have performed more than 100 brachial plexus nerve transfers since starting in 2014. In 2018, with our assistance, CSC surgeons performed the first free functioning muscle transfer for total brachial plexus injury in Cambodia. They have gone on to successfully perform 5 of these highly complex microsurgical reconstructions since then. This year we performed the first contralateral C7 transfer for traumatic brain injury spastic hemiplegia.
Unfortunately, due to COVID and the post-COVID economic situation, they lost many of their major sponsors and are now struggling to keep delivering this level of care. Surgeons we have trained have left for better remuneration and we are having to train new ones constantly. Please support CSC so they can continue to bring hope to the people of Cambodia!
Dr Andrew Yam
Hand Surgery Associates
Singapore
CSC has been providing free or low cost care since the mid-1990's to disabled Cambodians who cannot afford medical care under the tutelage of Dr. Jim Gollogly. I have been volunteering there for many years, and am always heartened at the kindness of the staff to care for these patients who may have had serious medical problems for many years. The smile on their faces when they are discharged is something everyone should see! Dr. Jim also teaches medical students from Cambodia so that they can return to their province to provide better care. Thank you to CSC for all that you do.
I have friends, both medical professionals, who have been volunteering at CSC for over 10 years. They make one long and often another shorter trip each year. I have heard many stories from them over the years on the wonderful work done at CSC. Four years ago I had the opportunity to join them for part of their stay and saw the operation firsthand. I had the chance to meet the doctors and nurses as well as some of the children. I was so very impressed. I hope I might again make this journey and visit again.
Sandy S. - New Mexico, USA
The Children’s Surgical Centre is an amazing nonprofit that has provided free medical and surgical care to Cambodians for many years. I’ve had the privilege of providing care there for 18 years. Truly outstanding!
CSC is a long standing charity children's hospital in Phnom Penh specializing a pediatric surgical care. All service have always been completely free to children in need. They have established relationships with community health centers and rural clinics around Cambodia to identify patients in need.
I have been supporting them for years and have visited CSC on several occasions. It is a great organization.
I have been volunteering for and supporting Children's Surgical Centre for 14 years. Each year I visit for 2-3 months and help with anything I can - visiting patients, helping patients pay for meds they can't afford, buying new mattresses for the wards, and entertaining the children who are hospitalized. CSC accepts all patients from all over the country in need of surgical care for their disabilities, they turn no one away. Most patients are from poor, rural areas in other provinces, often coming from more than four hours away on difficult roads. They face socio-economic problems related to low education levels and remoteness. The villages continue to have high levels of malnutrition and stunting due to societal challenges and food insecurity. The CSC staff's enthusiasm, belief, and resolve in their work with their patients are unparalleled. Local Khmer surgeons are trained there by several visiting surgeons from all over the world who visit throughout the year to update the surgical skills for Eye, Orthopedic, Plastics, and ENT.
One can see that this hospital makes a BIG difference in the lives of disabled Cambodians
I am a final year Medical student from the UK, and I have just completed my 6 week elective at the Children’s surgical centre.
It has been the most memorable and rewarding experience of my medical studies, I have had so far.
The kindness all the staff have shown me during my time there, made the elective more special than I could have hoped for.
I was able to witness the exceptional skills of the surgeons who work there, on a daily basis, and it was humbling to see the incredible work they do at the centre for the Cambodian people. It was clear how vital and valued the care the CSC gives to the Cambodian people is to the patients and their families there.
Not only was the environment very welcoming, but there was strong sense of benevolence and kindheartedness amongst all the staff there, united in their goal to improve the lives of all people who seek help from CSC.
I only hope that the incredible work at the CSC continues for a long time!
The CSC changes thousands of people’s lives for the better each year..check out http://csc.org for more information on what they do and how to donate to such a worthy cause.
Review from Guidestar
I worked at the Children's Surgical Centre doing social media and helping out wherever I could. It is a very special hospital, and the difference they make in the lives of poor Cambodian's is inspirational. The patients that come in have a wide variety of unusual medical conditions, and most have had debilitating conditions that they have lived with for years until they hear of the CSC. The Children's Surgical Centre gives free life changing surgery to deserving people that otherwise would have to live with their disabilities and misfortune. It is a very important hospital that thousands of poor Cambodians count on. The Children's Surgical Centre is also a teaching hospital of Khmer surgeons and staff. Surgeons from around the world come and train the surgeons and teach them new techniques. I would argue that the surgeons here at the CSC are some of the best in Cambodia, they are very talented and humble. I really enjoyed going into work every day, and I learned a lot. All the staff are very welcoming and warm, and Dr. Jim and wife Kanya made me feel at home and part of the team. The Children's Surgical Centre is run very efficiently and with a low overhead compared to other NGOs. I will definitely return and continue to support the Children's Surgical Centre. Check out www.helpcambodianchildren.com to see patient stories, as well as visiting surgeons, medical students, as well as my personal experiences here.