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posted 3-30-98

When the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Film was announced in Los Angeles on March 23, the superstars in the audience weren’t the only ones applauding. Nurses, surgeons and health professionals all over the country were elated that a film highlighting the volunteer efforts of the medical community had been recognized.

A Story of Healing chronicles a trip to Vietnam by Interplast, a nonprofit agency that sends volunteers to provide reconstructive surgery to children in developing countries.

For Linda Lambert, an RN from Salt Lake City who went to the rural and remote province of An Giang in the Mekong Delta, the trip radically changed her perspective on life. "You realize how much you take for granted," she says, referring to medical services and facilities that are easily available in developed countries. Her most poignant memory is of a 16-year-old boy with a severe cleft lip. "Most people came with their families, but he had walked alone from a remote village." As the surgery began, he started to cry so Lambert worriedly called in the interpreter. "I thought he was in pain," she says. But they were literally tears of joy. He had been ostracized because of his birth defect. And was overjoyed that he would no longer have to cover his face when he left home. "It was a very emotional moment," she says.

But the emotions and high drama of a trip are often preceded by frustration with the inadequacy of the local medical facilities. "It was like being transported back in time; I hadn’t expected it to be so primitive," says Susan Sandoval, RN, who was also on the 1997 trip to Vietnam that became the movie. She hopes the movie and the Oscar will spread the word of the dire need for medical care in other countries. "You can change someone’s life in the 45 minutes it takes to do surgery for a cleft lip or palate."

For nurses on these missions, the schedule can be very hectic. With back to back surgeries and two tables in each operating room, getting the job done is the most important thing. "Nurses are a very important part of the team," says Sally Griesbach, RN with UCSF Medical Center and Chair of Interplast’s Nursing Committee. "The film gives nurses their due and captures how Interplast can change lives."

In addition to corrective surgeries, Interplast volunteers also provide training in surgical procedures and post-operative care to local nurses and surgeons. In the last 29 years, Interplast teams have visited Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mongolia, Peru, and the Philippines. Sometimes, patients whose surgeries are too complex to be performed in their home countries are brought to the United States. For more information on Interplast, check out their web site at www.interplast.org