Leadership Development -EQ Training

 Duncan Tree Foundation Volunteer Spotlight: Vincent Arlet, MD

 The scoliosis surgeries that the Duncan Tree Foundation (DTF) makes possible are the product of many hands. While the team includes donors, coordinators, and various volunteers, our success ultimately rests in the skilled hands of the surgeons who perform the surgeries. In this issue, we focus on Dr. Vincent Arlet, DTF’s senior medical advisor and newest board member.
  
 Dr. Arlet is Chief of Orthopaedic Spine Surgery (Adult & Pediatric) at the Perelman School of medicine, University of Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia  and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurosurgery.    Dr. Arlet took part in the one DTF trip in Jamaica in 2012 and has worked closely with Dr. David Toby, of the Princess Elizabeth Centre for Physically Handicapped Children, in Trinidad & Tobago.

 The driving force that propelled Dr. Arlet, a native of France, into the field of medicine sprang from the 2 months he spent in the hospital after a ski accident as a teenager, in the French Alps. The care he received and the dedication of his medical team set him on the path to become an orthopedic surgeon.

 While Dr. Arlet has performed thousands of surgeries in the United States over more than 26 years in practice, his adventurous spirit, and desire for a challenge and the chance to give back have led him to perform volunteer surgeries abroad, including for DTF.

The decision to undertake this humanitarian work has changed him as a person. “I have realized over the years that doing my volunteer work has changed me for the better. It has improved my judgment, improved my skills, and given me a more rational approach to the extraordinary pathologies I have encountered. So, overall, it has made me a better surgeon.”

 The work can often be challenging and grueling, but Dr. Arlet gets the reward of witnessing the amount of growth and change his patients experience after surgery. Prior to surgery, some of his patients have spinal curvature so severe that it interferes with their breathing. At the 6-month follow-up after surgery, the change is often dramatic, as patients have achieved not only substantially improved physical function, but also greater confidence and a return to a more normal life 

Some of Dr. Arlet’s most fulfilling work has been in Trinidad & Tobago, on a project he signed onto 10 years ago with Dr. Toby, who has become a trusted partner. Together, they have performed more than 80 complex scoliosis surgeries at the Princess Elizabeth Centre. Dr. Arlet makes the trip to Trinidad & Tobago twice a year . Currently Drs. Arlet and. Toby are working on continuous improvement of patient care and aretraining young spine surgeons to be the next generation miracle workers.

We are very grateful for the gifted hands of Dr. Arlet and all of our medical volunteers with big hearts.

In addition to our scoliosis missions to Jamaica, twice annually and to the Philippines annually, DTF is happy to announce our new partnership with the Princess Elizabeth Centre in Trinidad & Tobago where we will support two mission trips each year. The Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago sites have been endorsed by the Scoliosis Research Society. For more information about Duncan Tree Foundation, please site www.duncantreefoundation.org and www.srs.org and search for Duncan Tree Jamaica.

How can you help? You can help strengthen the confidence of an adolescent, and change their future forever, by contributing financially or volunteering with Duncan Tree Foundation.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Links:

• Scoliosis Research Society website