COMPASSIONATE CARE
Operation Smile

Founded in 1982 by plastic surgeon Dr. William P. Magee Jr. and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse and clinical social worker, Operation Smile has grown to become one of the world’s hardest-working children’s medical charities.

The organization supports national and international medical missions to perform surgeries on children with facial deformities such as cleft lips and cleft palates, as well as those requiring dental and orthopaedic work. It has a host of medical and nonmedical volunteers in its 26 partner countries and the United States.

Since its inception, Operation Smile has treated more than 115,000 children. In 2007 alone, medical volunteers provided free surgeries for almost 10,000 through international and in-country medical missions. The Carolinas chapter has about 400 volunteers from various medical professions, all with the same goal: to help children in need.

Educational framework
The organization provides a solid framework for its partner countries to share knowledge, technology and skills. University partnerships offer training for medical volunteers, while its physician training program brings surgeons from throughout the world to the U.S. for training in specialized surgical skills.

“The idea is that we work ourselves out of a job; we teach local surgeons how to take care of these problems to the point that they become self-sustaining,” says Dr. Glenn Davis of Davis Plastic Surgery in Raleigh, who has been closely involved with Operation Smile since its beginnings.

The organization also provides education programs for doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals in each country in which it operates.

“What makes Operation Smile different is that we go into each country and begin legal foundations with boards of directors, offices, and staff,” says Beth Marshall, director of the Carolinas chapter and senior executive adviser to Latin America.

“This is created to make a sustainable organization that eventually will take care of the children on an ongoing basis,” she adds. “Other organizations go into a country, operate and return home.”

Emotional healing
In addition to surgeries — many of which are performed locally at Rex Healthcare and WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh — Operation Smile incorporates a social element as well. Child-life specialists accompany each mission to ensure affected children and their families are comfortable and aware of what they can expect.

“It’s a mixture of psycho-social care and education, which involves teaching children and their families about what’s going to happen in order to decrease their stress level. A lot of what we do is emotional, support,” says Jennifer Kreimer, a certified child-life specialist with WakeMed Surgical Services and child-life specialist and educational liaison with the organization.

It’s this well-rounded approach that has made the organization grow over the past 25 years.

“When I first started with Operation Smile, we pulled a group of nurses, anesthesiologists, and doctors together and went on a few trips. Then they came back and told their friends,” Davis says.

“It’s been like the roots of a tree since then,” he adds. “It really has spread out.”

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