Spaugh Dameron Tenny is excited to sponsor Sarah Pierrie, MD, an Orthopedic Surgery resident at Atrium Health, to join Joseph R. Hsu, MD, on his annual trip to Honduras. Their trip to Honduras through the RESTORE Foundation began on Sunday, April 29th.
RESTORE stands for Reconstructive Surgery and Transmission of Operative Resources and Education and was founded by Joseph R. Hsu, MD. The RESTORE foundation is a partner of Atrium Health and began in 2011 through humanitarian work, as part of medical readiness missions for the US Army at Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Along with directing the RESTORE mission, Dr. Hsu is an Orthopedic Trauma Surgeon and Director of the Limb Lengthening and Deformity Services at Atrium Health’s Carolinas Medical Center.
The co-director of RESTORE is Brian Brighton, MD, a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon at Atrium Health who has extensive training in complex Limb Deformity correction. He has led the training of the Pediatric division of RESTORE at Hospital Escuela.
Dr. Pierrie is a North Carolina native who grew up in Raleigh and completed her undergraduate and medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She plans to pursue a career in General Orthopedics with the United States Air Force following her residency. Dr. Pierrie is the first civilian Resident to accompany Dr. Hsu on a RESTORE trip. Before Dr. Pierrie left for her first RESTORE trip, we sat down with her for a Q & A session about her upcoming journey to Honduras.
I’m in the fifth year of residency program, in my final year.
No, this is my first medical mission trip.
I am excited to apply the clinical evaluation and surgical techniques I’ve learned in residency to treat a very challenging problem—limb deformity—in pediatric and adult patients. I have written several papers with Dr. Hsu about using these techniques and anticipate being challenged by the variety and severity of pathology we will see.
It is easy to take for granted the clinical and surgical tools (e.g. intraoperative x-rays, clean/available/appropriately sized implants, etc.) that are commonplace here in the United States. I suspect I will have to be creative in unexpected ways when operating with unfamiliar tools/implants or outside my comfort zone.
Dr. Hsu and Dr. Brighton have a unique skill set that allows them to treat difficult pathology. They also have a heart for service and for sharing their time and gifts with others. I look forward to working with these inspiring surgeons and with our Honduran colleagues to improve the lives of these patients and my clinical skills.
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As Dr. Hsu's first civilian Medical Resident in Honduras, Dr. Pierrie, was responsible for reflecting on her experience of treating limb deformity during the trip and assisting with the development of a training program for civilian residents on RESTORE missions in the future. She will be giving a presentation about her experience to fellow orthopedic practitioners upon her return to the United States and will also be tweetedabout their activity during the trip.
CRN202005-230425
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