The Voyage Mercy: Trip Description

Pete Bluvas, Nicholas Kanaan, and Ryan Yoon will be representing UCSD Medical School during the United States Pacific Partnership 2008 aboard the USNS MERCY (T-AH 19)—a 900 foot oil-tanker converted 1,000 bed hospital. This partnership will be staffed by the coordinated efforts of multiple organizations (U.S. Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, and Public Health Service; Armed Forces of the Philippines, Australia, Canada, and Japan; Regional Health Officials and Local Health Care Providers, Operation Smile, and 13 local NGOs—of which UCSD is one). This collaborative will be providing humanitarian aid in the form of surgical, medical, dental, & ophthalmological care, as well as provide onshore building & infrastructure support, improve foreign relations & diplomacy throughout the South Pacific. This will be carried out in the following destinations: Cotobato, Samar, Manila (Philippians), Nha Trang (Vietnam), Singapore, Dili (East Timor), Darwin (Australia), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Chuuk (Micronesia), Guam, Pearl Harbor, & San Diego (USA).

As fourth year medical students, they will be taking care of patients and helping achieve mission goals in the South Pacific during their leg of the journey (August 1st to September 19th), beginning in Papua New Guinea, through Micronesia, Guam and Pearl Harbor. As part of their participation, they are hoping to establish long-term relationships with the USNS Mercy and participating NGO’s to carve the way for future UCSD medical students to participate in upcoming humanitarian missions. Furthermore, the three participants will be keeping daily journals which will be uploaded when available at sea to an online blog to share experiences, express opinions, initiate discussion, and keep connection to UCSD medical students, faculty, and staff.

As participants, they hope to gain exposure to international and humanitarian health care delivery, better understand medical problems and management in the third world, and learn about new cultures. Being on a multidisciplinary care team as well as working with military personnel, they will gain insight and expertise in complex health care operations.