My Nonprofit Reviews

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.