We concluded our time in Santiago with our Chilean friends.

This is Puerto Varas in southern Chile where the Congress of the Chilean Orthopaedic Society meeting is being held.

This is a map of Chile with the major volcanoes highlighted. Unfortunately, one of them is spewing volcanic ash which has shut down air travel to the southern half of Chile. We were afraid that we were not going to be able to make it back to our families for Thanksgiving. Thus, we have had to conclude our adventure prematurely and return to our respective homes. We are saddened that we weren't able to visit with our new friends in Puerto Varas and participate in the meeting.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Latin America and are left with nothing but warm feelings for all the people who committed so much time and effort to making it a wonderful experience. We would particularly like to thank our hosts in Sao Paulo, Drs. Ruy Macielo, Alex Laurenco, and Miguel Akkari, in Buenos Aires, Drs. Juan Carlos Couto, Horacio Mischione, and Eduardo Stefano, and in Chile, Drs. Dalia Sepulveda, Juan Carlos Hernandez, and Veronica Vilches. We hope that some day we can return the hospitality in the U.S.

Santiago, Chile

Had a great academic day in Santiago. Dr. Juan Carlos Hernandez and Dra. Veronica Vilches have been showing us around Santiago. They were both POSNA/SLAOTI traveling fellows in the U.S. We participated in a very interesting academic session in the morning. Dr. Edmonds impressed us all by giving his presentation in Spanish. As we have noted in our previous stops in Latin America, the staff here is exceptionally talented and doing amazing work. Some of the staff at Hospital del Ninos Roberto del Rio, a busy public hospital, are pictured .

Like the U.S., there is a place here for parents to sit and gather their thoughts as well as offer support for other parents with hospitalized children.

After the academic session, we visited one of the popular tourist sites in Santiago, the "cerro San Cristobal" or San Cristobal Hill. An additional 1,000 feet of altitude allows a panoramic view of the city as well as the Andes looming over the horizon. Like most countries in South America, Chile is predominantly Catholic. Thus, there is a large statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of San Cristobal hill. You can get a sense of the seemingly never ending forest of skyscrapers in the valley below the Cordillera de los Andes.

We then interrupted our quest to consume all the meat in South America by enjoying a wonderful maritime lunch at the historic Mercado Centrale.

After lunch we visited a different world in Santiago, the Teloton Children's Rehabilitation Hospital. The Chilean people support this institute with charitable donations, producing a beautiful state of the art facility providing primarily rehabilitation services and some pediatric orthopaedics. We all agreed that we haven't seen any better facility anywhere in the world.

We then visited a private hospital next door which could also be mistaken for a very modern facility in the U.S. We capped off the evening with a round of the Chilean national drink, Pisco Sours, and dinner. We have been treated to a fantastic experience in another vibrant South American capitol city. We will be leaving tomorrow to go to the SLAOTI/Chilean Orthopaedic Society Meeting in the scenic town of Puerto Varas which is in the shadow of snow capped volcanic mountains and by an alpine lake. Adios Santiago, and a sincere thank you to our gracious hosts, it was a pleasure.

Today was a cultural tour through Chile. We started, of course, in a winery.

We followed that with a tour of one of the homes of Pablo Neruda. It had something of a sea view. Apparently cultural icon, nobel prize winner and poet does well in real estate.

Argentinos Hospitality

The last few days have been great in Buenos Aires. Our local hosts have been outstanding. They treated us to Steaks and excellent tours of the 3 Pediatric Hospitals of Buenos Aires. Of interest, the Hospital de Ninos Dr Richard Gutierrez offers what is believed to be the only Pediatric Orthopedic Residency in the world. Here is the team in action on rounds through the hospital.

We have not only been able to learn about Argentinian healthcare, but we have been introduced to a very interesting cosmopolitan city. European and advanced on one hand, and yet impoverished with a 50% below poverty line on the other.

As part of our visit we were able to attend a Polo match at the Gold Cup which is the start of the season here in Argentina. We meet the owners of the polo grounds and discovered that 2 of her sons are ranked 10 as well as one of her son-in-laws. This ranking is the highest in the polo world, and there are only 8 riders in the world with this designation.


In the end, the biggest lesson learned today, was that there are always worse jobs that one can have in the world.

Goodbye Brazil, Hello Argentina

We have arrived in Buenos Aires. Just wanted to say thank you to our hosts for the incredible experience in Sao Paulo. The team from the Federal Hospital is shown in the white coats, and the team from Santa Casa is pictured under the gothic arches. We learned, we laughed, we ate (a lot) and made wonderful new friends. We are looking forward to more of the same in Buenos Aires.

Day 2

Another great day in Sao Paulo. Today we visited th other two major centers in the city: Santa Casa medical school- pavilhano fernandinho, as well as the Federal University of Sao Paulo. Our two hosts (Dr Miguel Akkari and Dr Alexandre Lourenco) gave us access to their hospitals and entertained us with fantastic meals for both lunch and dinner. We all sincerely appreciate the hospitality that we received at the generosity of the Sociedade Brasileira de Ortopedia Pediatrica.

We had many engaging discussions and debates concerning the practice of pediatric orthopedics over the last 2 and a half days. Some discussions strayed from the care of children and landed us in the midst of ongoing deliberations concerning the best soccer team in Sao Paulo. It seems that their is an underground movement in support of Corinthians, but in the end we were given shirts in honor of Santos. Let's just agree that there can be no agreement concerning the best team in Brazil.

We thank our Brazilian hosts and prepare for an early departure for Buenos Aires in the morning.

Day 1

Day one in Brazil: we were greeted early and joined in on a dense limb deficiency clinic with a wealth of hemi-melia and congenital hip dislocations.

On a tour of the University of Sao Paolo Orthopaedic Hospital we were shown a world-class arthroscopy lab with some decidedly Brazilian teaching techniques.

We concluded the academic day with lectures from the three of us (The evolution of SCFE treatment, Compartment syndrome, and Adolescent shoulder injuries) to the Brazilian 1st and 2nd year residents. We were very jealous of their uniforms.