Los Angeles-based Orthopaedic Institute for Children physicians and surgeons will travel to Calexico, Calif., in February to provide free orthopedic care to children from Mexico with musculoskeletal conditions. The visit is part of OIC's International Children's Program, which has provided free care to more than 150,000 children.
Here are four things to know:
1. OIC physicians provide one-day clinics at the Valley Orthopaedic Clinic in Calexico eight times a year. Clinics are also held on certain dates at the Hospital General de Mexicali in Mexico.
2. Physicians at these clinics treat patients with cerebral palsy, scoliosis, congenital hip disorders, hand disorders, missing or deformed bones and club foot. Donors to the International Children's Program cover all aspects of a child's care, including travel, food and lodging.
3. If additional consultation with a physician is required, patients go to OIC's Los Angeles campus. Patients who receive surgical care go to the UC Los Angeles Medical Center in Santa Monica, where OIC physicians provide pediatric orthopedic care for UCLA Health.
4. UCLA/OIC Center of Cerebral Palsy Associate Director Rachel Thompson, MD, leads the OIC team. Dr. Thompson also serves as an assistant clinical professor in the UCLA orthopedics department.
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