3rd Anual Arequipa Medical Conference and Healthcare Training Symposium - DAY ONE

Well, it was not exactly the number of participants we were originally hoping for . . . but we doubled our participation from 2009. That is not bad.

This year we have accreditation for the conference from three institutions: the Peruvian College of Nurses, The Peruvian College of Medicine, and Catholica University. This accreditation will allow us to offer continuing medical and nursing education credits to all participants. This is really exciting - and to the best of our research and knowledge the first time a U.S. NGO has ever received accreditation from the College of Medicine.

Today was the first day of the conference and everything went great. We had a very enthusiastic and attentive group of nurses and physicians from all over Arequipa. We even had two nurses come all the way from Ayacucho - a 25+ hour bus ride. What a honor. We are so pleased that people are participating in the conference.

The speakers are a fantastic group. We could not ask for a better cohort of presenters. They collectively represent 5 states, 2 Canadian Provinces, and 2 regional districts here in Peru. Talk about an international docket of speakers.

Tomorrow is a very full day - with the conference starting at 8:30 a.m. and going all the way until 7:00 p.m. We have a full schedule of speakers and a fantastic "post conference" party planned.