Hawaii Nurse, Waka Waka Lua!

With a young friend in Esteli, Nicaragua

My name is Alex. I am a 27 year old ICU nurse, and recently moved back to Baltimore with John and Merrill (the ‘rents). I was born in North Carolina, but grew up here in “Bawlmer”, including graduating from Villa Julie College of Nursing (AKA Stevenson University). For the past 4 years working as a travel nurse. My work has taken me to NYC (Bellvue Hospital) , Hawaii, San Francisco, and most recently, San Diego. I went on my first of several missions with Operation Rainbow to Nicaragua, 11 years ago. I started as a young “helper”, then in subsequent years, as a nursing student, and finally as a full-fledged RN.  My earliest memory of mission work was greeting my dad coming home after his first mission to Nicaragua in 1998. His team was caught in Hurricane MItch, and stranded for a week. By the time they arrived home, the news media was staked out at the airport covering the return. That was pretty exciting for me to see. My mom also went on several missions to places that made the Top Ten Travel Warning List of the State Department, including Pakistan after an earthquake, Sri Lanka after a Tsunami, and Haiti, two weeks after the earthquake. Some how, my parents decided that these missions were safe enough for my little sisters and me. Throughout the years, all of us have joined my parents on these mission trips, usually to Nicaragua, though my little sister Brittany was with our parents at Adventiste in Haiti last year.  Our friends didn’t quite understand it when I showed them pictures from our trips. 

Administering an IV in Nicaragua

They thought that when we went to the tropics, we must have been going to fancy resorts!  In any case, these were the most special experiences in my life, and they helped to cement my decision to become a nurse.  In fact, it was on a Rainbow mission in 2006 when I began my passage into professionalism, learning I had learned enough to pass two things:  my first Foley catheter and the NCLEX (waiting desperately for my test score results to download in the painfully slow dial-up internet cafe in Esteli).

 

Waiting for a fake wave in Singapore.

During the past few years I’ve enjoyed practicing in a different kind of tropics: the Aloha state of Hawaii, as a traveling nurse.  I feel extremely lucky and excited to join the team this year on the mission to Haiti.

Real waves, Kailua Beach, Oahu

Climbing in Hawaii

Francel, we're so glad you are here!

It's a pleasure to introduce the most recent addition to Team Sinai, Dr. Francel Alexis. We are so grateful that he will be joining us, and also staying on after we depart to help look after the patients we treat when we go to Haiti later in June.....

I am a 31 years old (young) Haitian orthopedic surgeon. I was born and grew up in Les Cayes, in the South of Haiti. I attended high school in Port au Prince at the Institution of Saint Louis de Gonzague. I graduated from the Medical School of the Haitian State University in 2004, and then worked for one year of national service in Les Cayes. Soon after, I started my 4 year orthopedic residency at the Haitian State University Hospital.

I have had the opportunity to spend some time rotating through various hospitals in the USA and France. Since 2007, I have attended the yearly SIGN Conference for Treatment of Difficult Fractures in Richland, Washington. In North America, I have had the privilege to visit famous hospitals in Kansas, Texas, Indiana, North Carolina, and Ottawa. I also visited a hospital in Guadeloupe, France. Back home in Haiti, I recently enjoyed working at Hopital Adventiste with the long term volunteer docs: Terry Dietrich and Scott Nelson, so I am already familiar with the workings of Adventiste.

Immediately after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, I volunteered at the General Hospital (HICC) in Les Cayes along side Médecins sans Frontiérs (MSF).

I am doing now a Fellowship in Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at the CURE International Hospital in Dominican Republic since November 2010 with Dr. Dan Ruggles. I am married to my lovely Wideline and we have three beautiful children. I look forward to working with the other members of Team Sinai!

Francel ALEXIS, MD

The Prodigal Daughter

I am a Haitian American Nurse Practitioner who specializes in Cardiology.   Helping Haiti has been a goal of mine for some time and the earthquake disaster only intensified my desire to go to my homeland and help out.  I hope this trip will only be the first of many back to Haiti in a professional, volunteer capacity.  It is important to me to go back to my country and help rebuild and support my people.

A little about myself, I studied undergraduate nursing in Chicago at University of Illinois. I worked as a Cardiac nurse at Miami Heart Institute and in the Cath Lab at Baptist Medical Center in Miami, Florida.  I came to Baltimore 10 years ago for graduate studies at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.  For the last five years I have worked for the Johns Hopkins Division of Cardiology as a Nurse Practioner.  I look forward to being a part of this Team Sinai and going back to my homeland! Oh, and one more thing, I speak Kreyole and French much better than my cousin Ron!

Hooray for Bollywood!!

As we continue to introduce you to the new members of Team Sinai, please welcome Dr. Jossie Abraham. In her own words...

I am extremely excited to be on this trip to Haiti and can’t wait to make a difference!  A little about myself, I was born and raised in New York City.  I went to Lehman College (Bronx, NY) for my bachelors degree and then to the New York College of Podiatric Medicine for graduate school. After graduation from Podiatry School, I completed a three year residency in foot and ankle surgery.  Currently I’m at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopaedics at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, for a post-residency fellowship in foot and ankle reconstruction.  

From our wedding album

Jossie and Jen at work in clinic

Before I started my path in medicine, I experienced witnessing my grandfather passing away in a small rural hospital in India. It was then that I made a decision to try to make a difference in this world and to do whatever I can with my hands to benefit those that are less fortunate. I can’t wait for this trip to Haiti, my first mission trip, and I hope this will not be the last.

Yo, Jen!

Meet Dr. Jennifer D'Amico, one of three podiatric fellows who will be joining Team Sinai in Haiti next month.....

Dr. Jennifer D'Amico graduated from her podiatric residency in beautiful San Diego, CA where she gained valuable experience in foot and ankle reconstruction as well as orthopedic trauma. While living in San Diego, Jen also reconnected with her passion for the arts which included ceramics.She's now with us in Baltimore at Sinai as a limb reconsruction fellow doing a great job. Dr. D'Amico loves to volunteer (homeless outreach, Girls Think Tank). After graduating, Jen had a whirlwind mission trip to Nepal with Healing the Children where they did mostly reconstructive surgery on children and adults with neglected clubfoot. That experience in Kathmandu solidified her passion for helping the disadvantaged. Jen herself came from a modest background, surviving with her mother and brothers on food stamps and help from mom's family. Through hard work and dedication, Jen is realizing the American dream, graduating from college, podiatry school, residency, and finishing up her fellowship. She'll be returning to San Diego as an attending surgeon this summer. Jennifer is looking forward to continuing her mission work as a way of helping people around the world who are disadvantaged. She is very excited to be joining Team Sinai for our June 2011 Haiti mission. She is not concerned about potential security issues in Haiti. She knows that if anything were to happen to her, she has three Italian brothers who will come protect their little sister!

Jen and her big brothers in the "hood"

Papa Doc and Baby Doc

Team Sinai is proud to welcome two “new” members who are actually both experienced volunteers at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti. John (Papa Doc) Sauter has worked with CURE teams twice in HAH and son Chris (Baby Doc) helped his dad on the last mission. 

John (Papa Doc), Chris (Baby Doc) at HAH
with interpreters Tony and Roosevelt.

Dr. John Sauter has been in anesthesia practice for the past 23 years.  Following residency he served four years of active duty in the US Navy practicing anesthesia, including stints on Aircraft Carriers Saratoga and Forrestal, and aboard the Baltimore based hospital ship USNS Comfort. Since separation from the service, John has been practicing in the Philadelphia suburbs. His special interests are obstetrical and cardiothoracic anesthesia, but has a broad experience in orthopedic, general surgery, GYN, and urology anesthesia.

Chris Sauter is 23 years old and currently with 'rents in Philly.  He graduated from Colgate University last spring where he concentrated in Molecular Biology and minored in Economics.  He spent one semester working at the National Cancer Institute and another semester at the University of Cardiff, Wales.  He currently works at a research laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University in the division of Medical Oncology, spending most of his time in the company of mice and rats.  In his spare time, he enjoys outdoor activities, reading, and volunteering. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder.  Chris’ previous experience as a volunteer in Haiti was a unique, eye opening experience, and cemented his desire to follow in Dad’s footsteps in a medical career.  

Chris outside the wire at HAH

John’s wife Eve is proud of the two men in her life
As a family, they enjoy hiking and cycling.

Gentle Jenel

I'm working here....

Jenel Slonaker is a Surgical Technician at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital. She was born just north of us in Lancaster, PA, and studied Surgical Technology in New Jersey. After graduation, she worked at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, and at Shock Trauma Hospital in Baltimore. For the past several years, she has been with us at Sinai. Jenel is a Surgical Tech by day, and a student at CCBC (Community College of Baltimore County) by night, working on her Bachelor's Degree.

"Dr. D, did you forget to put
this back in...?"

Jenel is mission experienced, having traveled with Operation Walk Maryland to Ecuador in 2010. Our own Dr. Harpal Khanuja led that mission, and reports that Jenel worked hard, and was inspired by the opportunity to help people in need. Her long term goal now is to become a Physician Assistant.
Jenel is pictured above helping us to remove an external fixator, and we're not sure WHAT she's doing with that proximal femur on the right, though she looks like she is ready to blast off into outer space....
We anticipate running two operating rooms in Haiti next month, and this should keep Jenel on her toes!