Busy in Arequipa

Photo: Dr. McCormick speaking at Goyeneche Hospital Grand Rounds; Advancements in Hip Resurfacing Techniques

The last couple of days have blown past like a tornado. Over the past 48-hours we have completed the organization for our event, greeted our team of presenters and special guests from North America, and had managed the frustrations of having too much to do and not enough time to get it all done.

With that said - it has been a great start to this trip. Our conference "officially" starts today (21 April); but really started yesterday morning - as Dr. Joe McCormick presented a Grand Rounds lecture to the faculty and staff of Hospital Goyeneche (the largest public hospital in Arequipa).

In the evening Dr. McCormick was busy once again presenting an "impromptu" lecture on Sports Medicine to a group of professionals at the monthly meeting of an investigative special interest group. Okay - I think I need to be a little clearer - first, I used the term "impromptu" regarding Dr. McCormick's lecture because he thought he was going to speak about Hip Resurfacing Procedures, the same lecture he delivered in the morning to the Goyeneche staff. As we learned later in the morning - the "investigational interest group" had sent out invitations to Dr. McCormick's lecture and advertised the talk as a "Sports Medicine" talk. Thankfully, Dr. Joe is quick on his feet and put together a new PowerPoint in less than 4-hours yesterday afternoon.

My second point of clarification is around the "investigational special interest group." It seems that the group is a para-professional organization that works to bridge together various disciplines to discuss unique concepts and ideas related to healthcare, science and technology in Peru. The audience, about 40 people in total, was a spirited group with a broad array of questions and ideas.

A big thank you goes out to Dr. McCormick and his keen skills of adaptability.

The group, we have 10 guests and speakers from the U.S. joining the HBI team in Arequipa for the conference, were busy yesterday helping in the clinic, performing home care visits and preparing their lectures and talks for the conference. I think I am fair in saying that everyone really enjoyed themselves. I hope they feel that same way after 2-days of intense trainings for some 75 Peruvian nurses and physicians. Please stay tuned to this BlogSpot for updates on the conference.