The Real Dr. D. Stands Up...

Ronald E. Delanois, M.D., is a senior orthopedic surgeon at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement, where is he also the Fellowship Director. Prior to coming to Sinai, he served 18 years in the United States Air Force, the last eight as the division head of the Adult Reconstructive Service at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. He is a widely regarded expert in joint replacement.

Ron obtained his M.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). He did his orthopedic training in the Air Force at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, followed by a Fellowship in Joint Replacement at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Delanois currently holds an academic appointment at USUHS, Bethesda, as a clinical assistant professor of surgery. He is an active member in the Society of Military Orthopedic Surgeons as well as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Dr. Delanois lives in Lutherville, Maryland, with his wife and their three children. He enjoys competitive cycling and collects fine writing instruments. Ron speaks both French and Creyole.

Dr. O

Dr. Ed O’Laughlin is a pediatric anesthesiologist practicing for many years in the Baltimore area and currently working at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.  He is looking forward to our upcoming June trip to Adventiste. "Dr. O" has already served on two previous orthopedic missions to Haiti, the previous two being with Dr. Scott Nelson, working out of Cap Hatien. Ed is a Francophone, and is working on his Creole.

Ed is a devoted father of five, grandfather of three, married 35 years. Ed is an avid croquet player and enjoys the travel and competition. He even has his own professional grade court, one of the best on the east coast.  While he supports himself and his family through his work as an anesthesiologist, he dreams of the day that croquet will become an Olympic sport, opening up an opportunity for Ed to be the oldest U.S.A. Olympian.

Croquet now...

Croquet then.....(Edouard Manet)

Jeff the Younger

Welcome to Dr. Jeff Young, who will be joining us on Team Sinai at Adventiste. Originally a native of Maryland, Jeff studied at  the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and then went off to Northwestern University (Chicago) for his orthopedic residency. He completed a pediatric orthopaedic fellowship at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Subsequent to that, he did a six month fellowship with here in Baltimore at the International Center for Limb Lengthening at Sinai Hospital.  Jeff has already been bitten by the mission bug.  His prior mission trip experiences include trips to Guatemala, Colombia and Nicaragua. On his return to the USA from Haiti, he will be joining Drs. Larry Rinsky, Jim Gamble, and Meghan Imrie on the orthopedic faculty at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The Bay area is the home of Operation Rainbow, co-sponsor of our upcoming mid-June mission to Haiti, so Jeff plans to continue as an active participant in overseas missions with Operation Rainbow.

Jeff and friends in Nicaragua

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.