By Cassidy Craig | PACU Volunteer

Seven years ago, I travelled halfway across the world as a sophomore in high school on my first mission trip with Mending Faces. I am forever grateful for that experience because it introduced me to the medical world at such a young age. I’m super excited to be back this year in a new location, the Dominican Republic! Bright and early this morning, we met with our team over breakfast and discussed our roles throughout the day. Screening day is always busy as we meet so many new faces in order to carefully craft the surgical schedules for the upcoming week. After breakfast, we loaded up the bus and headed over to Clínica Cruz Jiminian. We were warmly welcomed and given a tour of our new space before quickly getting to work. Half of the team worked on unpacking and setting up the operating rooms while the other half met with the prospective patients. On my previous missions, I served as a volunteer and tried my best to interact with the children despite the language barrier in the Philippines. This year, I was able to get more involved after a few years of patient care experience in the Emergency Department. I worked alongside Anna Domingo during the screening process, administering COVID swabs and taking vitals signs. I’m looking forward to the first day of surgeries tomorrow and can’t wait to help out in the PACU!