By Eric Taris, DO
2025 AOAO Foundation/Hand Section Mission Scholarship Recipient
On May 22, 2026, a group of 26 individuals traveled to the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa. The team consisted of five hand surgeons, one orthopedic pediatric sports surgeon, one spine surgeon, two occupational hand therapists, one hand fellow (myself), one orthopedic resident, four medical students, three undergraduate premedical students, seven volunteers and one surgical instrument repair technician. The goal of the trip, which lasted until May 30, was to help the Honduran people not only medically but socially as well.
Richard Howard, DO has led this well-organized trip for many years, attracting more people to participate. Because of this annual aid, relationships have formed with the local doctors and the people living there. The same interpreters, drivers and doctors help year after year and amazing relationships have developed.
This was my second trip to Honduras. The first time as a third-year resident and this time as a hand fellow with my program director, Dr. Adam Dann who participates annually. As a returning physician, I enjoyed seeing and working with those I met the first time.
Upon arrival, we went directly to the mountain side to visit a small school the team sponsors. We were able to meet the children and teachers at the school. The team met for dinner that evening and were ready for a full clinical day on Saturday. There were five different teams at various clinics. At the clinic we evaluated patients who had been prescreened by local doctors, as well as patients with acute injuries. Our weeks’ worth of cases were booked during that first clinical day. On Sunday, we enjoyed a local church service and went to the valley of Angels for lunch and to explore the town. Monday started our week of work.
Part of our team contributed to the surrounding area including people living in the mountains outside the city. These areas consisted of mostly dirt roads with shelters serving as homes that may or may not have concrete floors. Our team was able to help build two new houses with concrete floors, provide water filtration systems for multiple people and provide food baskets for families in need. Additionally, the team had the goal of reaching out to the people spiritually and provided Spanish Bibles to individuals accepting of it.
The entire medical team was divided to work at 4 different hospitals: Escuela, Social Security, Militar and Maria. I personally spent most of my time at Maria Hospital, which treats pediatric patients but not normally orthopedically. I had the privilege of operating there with Dr. Tim Dew, who I worked with during residency at the Shriners Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. Throughout the week we worked with the same attending residents who were part of the OR staff. As we continued we both became more comfortable with each other and enjoyed our time together. Most of the 15 cases we treated were congenital except for one flexor tendon injury. On our last day we went to Escuela Hospital to operate. We realized we were spoiled at Maria Hospital as the facilities were fairly new and had air conditioning. The orthopedic attending there told us Escuela was built in the 1960’s and has not received much renovation since then.
As a team we performed 98 surgeries throughout that week and became close with the local community who really enjoy having us come every year. This was made known when a member of Congress joined us for dinner one night to share his gratitude.
