About STaRS

A private, voluntary, nonprofit organization, STaRS provides a continuum of advanced medical education and surgical treatment of congenital and acquired deformities in children in developing countries. Treatment goals are both functional and aesthetic and usually focus on abnormalities of the head, face, jaws or neck. If untreated, these children face chronic and often devastating physical and emotional challenges.

STaRS' Mission

Surgical Treatment Plus Professional Education

The STaRS team is invited to a developing country where local medical professionals request training and education in advanced surgical techniques. STaRS will visit the country over a three to four year period, teaching and demonstrating advanced techniques by performing surgery with their host colleagues.

STaRS' traveling medical teams have two goals:

• Immediately, to share the knowledge and skills of leading specialists in pediatric reconstructive surgery in countries where there are large numbers of children whose lives could be dramatically improved, but where training in advanced techniques has been limited.
• For the future, to provide a lasting legacy by educating local health care teams so that they can become more self-sustaining in providing advanced reconstructive surgical care. Each on-site educational visit potentially improves the lives of many children over time.

STaRS secures donations of required medical equipment and supplies identified by the host country -- surgical equipment, medications, and surgical and dental supplies. Please refer to our wish list for specific items that are required to care for these children.

Click here to learn more about STaRS’ activities that support local medical professionals.

How STaRS Works

STaRS' on-site training and on-going educational efforts involve the entire interdisciplinary health care team, including such specialists as plastic, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, anesthesiologists and pediatricians, as well as dentists, nurses, orthodontists, otolaryngologists and speech pathologists. Each discipline shares their knowledge with their local colleagues while treatment is provided.

STaRS achieves its goals by:

• Collaborating with medical professionals in developing countries to improve the quality of children's lives -- functionally and aesthetically.
• Creating educational opportunities to help local medical professionals become self-sustaining in meeting the need for pediatric reconstructive surgery.
• Providing advanced education by leading specialists in the field.
• Providing donated medical equipment and supplies required in the practice of reconstructive surgery to local pediatric hospitals that demonstrate the capacity to carry out the surgeries long-term.

STaRS' Values

• Work with host colleagues in a collaborative effort to meet the needs of specific pediatric patients.
• Adhere to the highest standards of medical ethics and personal integrity.
• Improve the quality of lives of children.
• Partner with local organizations and work collaboratively towards a shared goal.
• Freely share knowledge and skills with appreciation and awareness of the host's healthcare values and needs.
• Achieve results through volunteer and philanthropic efforts, with no political or religious affiliations.

History - Stanford Roots

STaRS was conceived by two Stanford Medical Center surgeons, Drs. Donald Laub and Stephen Schendel, as a result of their observations while working in developing countries. They found that, while most local medical professionals were well trained, and highly motivated to help patients in need, they often lacked knowledge of newer techniques as well as the resources to carry them out.

Drs. Laub and Schendel founded STaRS to focus on the educational aspects of pediatric reconstructive surgery, providing a long-term solution by advancing the skills and knowledge of local medical teams. This involves performing on-site surgery with host physicians, dentists and nurses, as well as organization and sponsorship of educational conferences in the developing countries. When off-site, STaRS maintains contact to provide on-going support and resources. The ultimate goal is to create a sustainable impact as local medical practitioners put these newly learned techniques into practice.

StaRS has been active in Central American countries, most recently in Cuba. To learn more about these trips, please click on the following links:

• www-med.stanford.edu/shs/update/archives/june1999/cuba.html
• www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/may29/schendel.html

Leadership

Donald R. Laub, MD

A surgeon and humanitarian, Dr. Laub began working with physicians in developing countries in 1969, when he was chief of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery at Stanford Medical Center, a position he held for more than a decade. In '69 he also founded Interplast, a charitable provider of reconstructive surgery, and was its president from 1973-79. He has been a visiting professor at a number of universities, a member of 14 medical associations and has published nearly 80 scientific articles. Among his many awards is one from President Ronald Reagan, for his work with Interplast. He also received a medal of merit from the President of Ecuador and an award of honor from the President of Honduras.

Stephen A. Schendel, MD, DDS

Dr. Schendel is professor, and was chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center for a decade. Additionally, he is chief of Surgery, and director of the Craniofacial Surgery Program, and was head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, California. He was also chairman of the Department of Functional Restoration at Stanford University, and co-founder and director of Stanford-NASA National Biocomputation Center. He is board certified in oral and maxillofacial surgery and plastic surgery, and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. His practice is mainly craniofacial surgery.

He began making volunteer trips to Latin America in the late1980s. Dr. Schendel organizes and conducts medical education missions to developing countries to educate physicians on state-of-the-art reconstructive techniques, thereby improving the quality of care for children.

To read more about Dr. Schendel, please click on the following link:

Partners

STaRS has collaborated with other non-profit organizations with common goals to maximize the impact of the educational missions and minimize the time to perform administrative functions. Organizations such as Global Health Partners have helped with travel and licensing paperwork.

STaRS also collaborates with medical teams located in the host countries to encourage the widespread practice of leading-edge pediatric surgical techniques.

Non-profit Status

STaRS is a 501(c)(3) organization registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service and IRS exemption was received in October, 2002.