Dr. Seth Derman is a OBGYN who made his first medical mission trip to the country of Cuba.
Derman, joined with 22 others and travelled to Havana, in what started as a religious mission trip. He would go on to provide supplies and medications to the Patronato, a Havana synagogue and community center that includes a pharmacy.
“This was a religious mission and I brought medical supplies,” Derman said. “They wanted us to bring medications. The Patronato has a pharmacy that not only services the Jewish community but the entire community. We brought the medications and supplies there, but it was not just for them it [was] also for the community.”
Derman said they brought two suitcases full of supplies and medications.
“I actually had more supplies than that,” he said. “The problem was that you cannot just bring an entire suitcase in. The government is afraid you will sell the stuff on the black market. I had a large duffle bag and I put the medications and supplies in smaller freezer bags, then distributed them among different people on the trip.”
He said he was able to provide birth control pills, prenatal vitamins, small surgical instruments and scalpels from the OBGYN practices, sutures and virtually all types of medications and vitamins.
Derman was able to gather supplies and medications from the providers at Delaware Valley OBGYN and Infertility Group, which is headquartered out of Lawrenceville, Lifeline Medical Associates, the Capital Health System and Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center.
He was able to gather most of the supplies three weeks before the week long trip.
“I have been wanting to do some kind of medical mission work, it was just hard to find something,” he said. “I’m a fertility doctor and most countries do not need what I do. It was kind of hard to find something that fit. I started gathering supplies once the group said they would need some. I was able to get those supplies from a whole bunch of places, that included our Delaware Valley OBGYN and Infertility Group.”
Derman said he felt the group was able to help a lot people.
“The thing with Cuba is they have the doctors unlike some other countries. What the country does not have is an abundance of medication and supplies. We were able to help with the shortage of supplies at the Patronato,” he said.
Derman said he was surprised by the lack of supplies and medications at the Patronato, considering it was one of the best pharmacies in the country.
“I hope we were able to help save lives and help people’s quality of life. I hope I can do more medical missions like this one, but it will depend on if the opportunity presents itself,” Derman said.
Derman donated the rest of his medications and supplies, which ended up being half of what he was able to bring to Cuba, to another mission group in South Jersey who will be leaving next month.