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鈥淭hese doctors 鈥� they鈥檇 never be able to afford to come here. So it鈥檚 nice to have that influence, to teach and demonstrate technique so surgeons can deliver care to their own countrymen in their own surroundings.鈥�
Along with a team of surgeons 鈥� he鈥檚 often joined by 9 1免费版下 professors Reg Goodday, Archie Morrison, Chad Robertson and Ben David 鈥� he performs free corrective surgery on children with cleft lip and palate, and at the same time, trains and teaches local surgeons. The surgeries have dramatically transformed the lives of children born with the common facial deformity and even some adults who had lived with the condition untreated for years.
The surgeries have enriched his life as well. He enjoys the children and their families, the teaching and the friendship and fellowship with team members.
鈥淲hy do I do it? It鈥檚 simple really 鈥� It鈥檚 so rewarding, it feels almost selfish,鈥� says Dr. Precious.
In May 2007, the internationally renowned teacher and oral surgeon was recognized for leading the international medical missions when he was named to the Order of Canada.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a privilege to work on these children and what we do is relatively straight-forward surgery which makes an enormous difference.鈥�
One in every 600 to 700 children is born with a cleft lip and/or palate. Once derogatorily referred to as a 鈥渉are lip,鈥� cleft lip and palate is a condition that occurs during development of the fetus, when the separate areas of the face don鈥檛 properly fuse together. A cleft lip (cleft meaning 鈥渟plit鈥� or 鈥渟eparation鈥�) is an opening in the upper lip between the mouth and nose. Cleft palate occurs when the roof of the mouth has not joined completely.聽 Left uncorrected, children born with cleft lip and/or palate experience breathing, eating and speaking problems.
Back in his office in the Dentistry Building after performing surgery on a baby from Halifax earlier that day, Dr. Precious explains that in developed countries like Canada, the initial lip surgery is done on babies around six months of age, for future growth reasons.
鈥淭he goal is to get the nose straight, achieve symmetry of the lip, nose and muscles and to create a nostril you can breathe through,鈥� says Dr. Precious, 64, who recently handed over the dean鈥檚 position to Dr. Thomas Boran. A founding member of the International Cleft Lip and Palate Foundation, Dr. Precious has been a professor with the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for 35 years. He is also on staff at the IWK Health Centre and Capital Health as a senior oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
Dr. Precious embarked on his first overseas medical mission to Vietnam in 1995 after encountering
Nagato Natsume, director of the Japanese Cleft Palate Association, at a meeting of specialists in New York. Since that time, his ground rules remain the same: he鈥檒l only go on the invitation of the country鈥檚 Ministry of Health and only as long as local surgeons will welcome them. 鈥淎nd we still insist on a team of Canadians, Japanese and Vietnamese,鈥� he adds.
Those first missions went to B锚n Tre, in the Mekong Delta area of southern Vietnam. But the team has since moved on to other locations because Vietnamese doctors are well equipped to handle the surgeries themselves 鈥� 鈥渁nd very well too,鈥� says Dr. Precious. More recently, the team has visited hospitals in V玫nh Long province, also in the south of the Southeast Asian country.聽 And, for the past 10 years, the team has made annual visits to Tunisia, in North Africa.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like M*A*S*H, by any means. But while not the same as North American hospitals, there are many things that are done so much more efficiently and at less cost鈥� We definitely learn a lot too 鈥� this is not a one-way street.鈥�