Interplast

Interplast, now called ReSurge International, is the first international humanitarian organization to provide free reconstructive surgery in developing countries, primarily to children with cleft lip and palate and burn scar contractures.

Interplast was founded in 1969 by Stanford plastic surgeon Donald Laub, and as of 2007, has treated more than 64,000 children worldwide. The first patient was a 13-year-old boy who had come to Stanford University Medical Center from his home in Mexicali, Mexico to receive surgery to repair his cleft lip and palate. Soon after, Laub and other surgeons began organizing regular trips to a charity hospital in Mexicali to treat children with disabling deformities.

Over time, Interplast began organizing surgical volunteer trips to other parts of Latin America, and eventually to Asia and Africa as well. As medical infrastructures improved throughout the developing world, Interplast shifted its focus towards educating and empowering doctors in developing countries by providing surgical outreach directors with the resources (money, education, supplies, etc.) to offer high-quality care in their own communities.

Interplast was the subject of "A Story of Healing," winner of the 1997 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. In 2007, "A Story of Healing" became the first Academy Award-winning film to be released under a Creative Commons license.

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