By Kaitlyn Stevens, DO
Fellow, Hand Surgery, Kettering Health Network
Recipient of the 2025 AOAO Foundation/ Hand Section Mission Scholarship
Global Health Outreach Orthopedic/Hand Surgery in Honduras. The final week of May 2025. Our daily schedules were set. Our minds were free, eager to sponge up the experience; soaking in every lasting memory, every interaction and reaction, predicting an impactful trip, but ultimately undervaluing the monumental influence and lasting legacy we would have on the Residents, Faculty, Honduran citizens and their community. More so, the affect they would have on us. Our hearts were on fire for service.
Our Team of dedicated servants journeyed to provide life-changing care to the underserved populations within Tegucigalpa and the surrounding resource-limited regions. Working in local hospitals, the Surgical Teams addressed a wide array of conditions, from congenital deformities to severe trauma resulting from daily dangers of Honduran lifestyle, while working hand-in-hand with local Surgeons, traveling/outreach Surgeons, Nurses, Students, Volunteers, Pastors, Hand Therapists, local Residents, and so many more critical pieces of our Team. Our Prayer Teams made daily hospital rounds, visiting patients and their families, offering physical and spiritual hope. They also traveled to the mountains, sharing the Gospel, visiting schools, making home visits, playing with the children, and teaching families how to utilize clean water filtration systems.
While our work provided immediate care, it also aided in addressing larger systemic healthcare disparities. Beyond offering direct patient care, our Team focused on long-term sustainability by training and empowering local medical staff and Residents, sharing best practices, providing medical and surgical supplies, expanding access to clean water, and much more.
Outside of performing critical surgeries that restored function to traumatic, acute, or chronic hand and upper extremity pathologies, we focused on collaboration and education, training Residents on advanced techniques. Our Hand Therapists created custom fabricated splints post-operatively, and educated patients on therapy programs, while teaching local Hand Therapists various splinting methods and home programs to share with their patients.
After our departure, we stayed in contact with the Residents, continuing communication and coordinating updates to progress patient recovery. This sustainable approach not only helps clear the backlog of cases but also empowers the Honduran medical community to provide ongoing specialized care. Collectively, these efforts leave behind a lasting legacy of healing, education, and hope for patients who would otherwise have limited access to such vital treatment.
~ Thank you ~
AOAO’s continued support for education, outreach, and innovation in Orthopedic Surgery is monumentally impactful and inspiring. Immense gratitude for the financial support and generous donations afforded through this scholarship to mitigate the cost burden and optimize a fully immersive experience, sharing of knowledge, and gainful insight. I am grateful for the incredible support of my Fellowship Faculty, encouraging me to participate in an outreach opportunity during training. It was a true privilege to actively participate as a member of a Team, collectively, with such a deep passion for outreach. Further, an honor to travel to Honduras, representing Kettering Health Hand Fellowship, Hand Surgery, GHO, and AOAO, in such a grounding, humbling, cup-filling way.
