MISSION 2024

ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA

SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 5, 2024

Operation Walk Pittsburgh is pleased to return to Antigua, Guatemala, for our 9th mission at Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro Hospital. Building on last year’s successes, our team hopes to expand our impact by providing up to 55 patients with knee and hip replacement surgeries.

Additionally, we plan to continue offering our free dental clinic for low-income residents in and around Antigua. Last year, Dr. Michael Guthrie of Wexford Family Dentistry travelled with our team and provided a combined 98 cleanings, extractions, and fillings for 31 dental patients. This year, we hope to double that impact! This is an important service, as we know that surgical risks and outcomes can be impacted by dental health.

On the orthopaedic side, last year, we scheduled 3 patients per room in 5 operating rooms every day, restoring pain-free mobility for 52 patients…a total of 73 hip and knee replacement surgeries. This was our greatest impact ever, and we are poised to build on that momentum. In 2024, we plan to reach 57 patients for up to 80 joint replacements.

While in Guatemala, the team will also offer non-operative checkups and injections for patients who have already had surgery or who are not yet surgical candidates. We will see many of our patients from 2022 and 2023.

Witnessing these patients walking and enjoying a quality of life that they hadn’t realized in decades is a gift to our team. Patients come from far and wide to show their gratitude, and the team is always happy to reciprocate, as so many of our patients leave us with lasting memories, stories, and smiles year after year.

We couldn’t be happier for the opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues at Obras later this year and to get back to doing what we do best: providing eager patients a fresh start through renewed mobility.

AMD3 WALK IT FORWARD SCHOLARSHIP

New for 2024, the AMD3 Foundation is proud to offer a limited number of individuals a very unique opportunity to join the Operation Walk Pittsburgh travel team on our 2024 mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala.

The AMD3 Walk It Forward Scholarship has been created to fully support interested individuals that are currently in training in healthcare careers to travel with Operation Walk Pittsburgh and participate in Mission 2024. For more information and to apply, please click below. 

Applying to the travel team

Are you interested on joining the 2024 Operation Walk Pittsburgh travel team as a clinical or non-clinical volunteer? Slots are available for surgeons, nurses, physical therapists, Spanish interpreters, general hospital volunteers, and many other roles. As a travel team member, you’ll serve an important role in changing the lives of patients in need during mission 2024.

To apply as a clinical volunteer, you must be currently licensed and employed in your chosen field. Specialization in orthopaedics is a plus. Non-clinical volunteers come from a variety of professional backgrounds, but healthcare experience and Spanish language skills are a plus. Interpretors must speak Spanish at a high-advanced / collegiate level, and bilingual interpretor applicants will receive priority.

All travel team members must agree to meet a fixed fundraising goal prior to travel. Fundraising goals are tiered based on average salaries for each clinical profession recruited to the team. Non-clinical volunteers meet a fixed $2500 fundraising goal in spite of their profession. Rather than pay the fundraising goal amount out-of-pocket, we encourage team members to engage in formal and informal fundraising activities in the months leading up to the trip. Our staff are available to assist with these activities and provide resources along the way, including a website where donors can contribute in support of a travel team member by name.

All funds raised by travel team members in this way support the purchase of critically needed surgical supplies and equipment for the trip. For questions about fundraising goals and deadlines, please reach out to nick@amd3.org.

Operation Walk Pittsburgh will arrange and cover the cost of flights, hotel, in-country transportation, and most meals for all travel team members. During the trip, team members are only financially responsible for incidental expenses and 2-3 dinners.

To apply to the travel team, please click below. All applicants should have a valid passport that does not expire before April 1st, 2025. They will also be required to submit a number of documents after completing the initial application, including state certification for clinical volunteers, passport information, BLS/CPR/ACLS certification, and other supporting documents and certifications. Non-clinical volunteers do not need to be certified in BLS, CPR, or ACLS to apply. If invited to join the travel team and you choose to accept the invitation, a non-refundable $250 deposit against your fundraising goal will be required to hold your position on the team.

Applicants will be notified of their application status in mid-March.

Planning for an OpWalk mission and making it all happen takes a tremendous amount of financial and in-kind support. As always, all donations made to Operation Walk Pittsburgh directly support patient care during the mission. We thank all of our donors and corporate sponsors for their support. To make a donation or explore corporate sponsorship opportunities, please email info@amd3.org or click the button below.

If you have a gently used walker or set of crutches you’d like to donate to the mission, please reach out.

JOIN THE JOURNEY

As this year’s mission unfolds, our communications team will be sharing news and updates.

 To join the experience, subscribe to our email list, follow us on Instagram, and like us on Facebook.