Mayflower Medical Outreach

Mayflower Medical Outreach’s Mission is to:

• To Provide ENT and Audiology Services
• To Provide Opportunities for Deaf Students
• To Strengthen training in the fields of ENT Medicine, Audiology, and Deaf Education

Otolaryngology Program

Mayflower Medical Outreach supports a wide variety of programs in Nicaragua. Each year a team of otolaryngologists and nurses travel to the mountain town of Jinotega to see patients and perform surgeries. This is done in conjunction with a broader effort that includes construction and physician training. These trips focus on otology and otolaryngology. During these trips practicing otolaryngologists and residents from Nicaragua also joins us and learn surgical. Their participation not only increases the manpower in the clinic, but also provides them with an excellent training opportunity. In addition, we work with Dr. Ernesto Moreno, who provides year-round otolaryngological services at Victoria Motta Hospital in Jinotega and helps to triage consults and surgeries prior to our annual visits.At least one trip each year is dedicated to improving otolaryngology at the Lenin Fonseca Hospital in Managua. Lenin Fonseca hospital is the site of resident specialty education and is the main tertiary referral center for otolaryngology. In Managua, our efforts are mainly focused on physician and resident education. This includes staffing clinics, teaching surgical techniques, providing temporal bone dissection labs, and performing more difficult skull-base surgeries.Last but not least, we recognize that training is of little value if the physician does not have the necessary tools and equipment. We are constantly looking for used equipment and discarded supplies that can be used at either Victoria or Lenin Fonseca Hospitals. Smaller items are hand carried with each trip and larger items, such as microscopes, are sent via shipping container. These equipment donations and our training programs have had a dramatic effect on the state of otolaryngology in Nicaragua, but there is still much work to be done.