A group of CoxHealth medical professionals are making a difference both overseas and at home.

The trio took the trip as part of the International Medical Assistance Foundation (IMAF), a not-for-profit organization that organizes, promotes and finances medical and surgical brigades to parts of the world where quality health care is unavailable to the majority of the population. Their mission is to provide quality care to the poorest and most underserved populations.

In five days, the group performed more than 40 surgeries for patients at a small, rural hospital in Catacamas, a city in the Olancho Department of Honduras. The surgeries included one of the city’s first laparoscopic gallbladder procedures, as well as hernia and hemorrhoid operations.

The team brought modern technologies and methods to a region that needs it, Castro says.

“Pretty much everyone down there who has gallstones are denied surgery until it becomes problematic. Then they get a traditional open cholecystectomy, which carries a significantly higher amount of risk,” he says. “So the fact we were able to provide minimally invasive care to these patients was awesome and a really rewarding experience.”

The process starts when primary care providers in Honduras screen patients months in advance to prepare for the American medical teams’ arrival. Many of the patients have dealt with discomfort for a long time, Snodgrass says.

“When someone in the United States needs to have their gallbladder removed, they’ve had pain for maybe a week or so,” she says. “A lot of these patients would say they’d had pain for a year and a half or two years.”

This trip wasn’t the first time Castro had visited Honduras for this reason. His father, also a physician, currently heads up the IMAF. The younger Castro has been involved in similar medical mission trips since 2007, when he was a sophomore in high school. A couple of years ago, he helped build the hospital they now operate in. 2024 was his first time going back as a full attending physician.

“To be able to operate in a facility that I helped build brick-by-brick was a wonderful experience,” Castro says. “Plus, I got to operate with my father on a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which is something I never thought I’d get to do and had always dreamed of.”

They plan to return in February 2026, with a goal of bringing two more surgeons to increase their care capacity.

“It was a really cool experience,” Cormaney says. “As someone who was relatively new to medicine, it was rewarding to see a different side of things and how what we do really helps people.”