Partnership Spotlight

OWS & Global Surgical Expedition:

Bringing World-Class Specialty Care to Honduras

For men and women living with urological conditions like kidney stones, prostate disease, bladder dysfunction, and pelvic floor disorders, the road to answers is long. These are treatable conditions. Yet in a country of nearly 11 million people, only three urogynecological surgeons are available to serve the entire population.

Demand far exceeds capacity, and for most patients, specialized care isn't an option.

OWS believes that closing gaps in surgical access requires intentional strategy. That means identifying the most critical unmet needs in the communities we serve and cultivating long-term partnerships with the world's leading specialty experts to address them. Our formalized partnership with Global Surgical Expedition (GSE) is exactly that—a deliberate step in building a comprehensive, subspecialty surgical program that serves patients with the same standard of care they would receive anywhere in the world.

This collaboration is not new. For years, OWS and GSE have worked side by side. Today, that relationship is stronger and more intentional than ever.

By anchoring our urology and urogynecology service line with GSE's specialized expertise, OWS ensures this program is built on a foundation of excellence—standardized protocols, care pathways, and the institutional knowledge that makes high-quality care consistent and sustainable. Leading this work is GSE founder, Dr. David Rapp, and GSE Honduras Program Champion, Dr. Erik Grossgold, two physicians whose combined decades of humanitarian medicine make them the right partners to build something lasting.

At the heart of the OWS-GSE partnership is a commitment to education. GSE will lead specialized training sessions for OWS clinical staff and help develop patient-facing resources. This investment will equip local providers with skills and knowledge that will continue serving patients long after any single mission concludes.

This partnership reflects everything you have made possible. Your generosity funds the systems, training, and trust that make sustainable healthcare real.



Learn more about how your support powers OWS's programs at oneworldsurgery.org.

Partnership in Action

She Stopped Leaving the House,

Surgery Gave Her Life Back: Meet a Urology Patient

For years, Lisi quietly rearranged her world around a condition she was too embarrassed to name.

After the birth of her two children, she began experiencing urinary incontinence that worsened with time. She stopped going to public places, afraid she wouldn't find a restroom in time. She pulled away from her husband, ashamed of something she couldn't control. A woman studying law, raising a family, and building a career was shrinking her life down to what felt safe.

In the United States, urinary incontinence affects millions of women and is routinely treated through outpatient procedures. In Honduras, where urogynecological specialists are nearly impossible to find, women like Lisi simply learn to live with it.

Then, she found One World Surgery. Within weeks, she had a consultation, a diagnosis, and a surgery date scheduled with Dr. David Rapp. On January 22, 2026, she received the procedure that changed everything.

Today, Lisi leaves her house without fear. She shows up fully present at work and at home, reclaiming the confidence she thought was gone for good.

Lisi asked us to share her story because she knows there are women just like her, quietly managing what they believe is their lot in life. It doesn't have to be.

"I hope One World Surgery’s work continues for the many people still searching for the care I finally found."

Her story is not an exception. It is the promise of what the OWS and Global Surgery Expedition partnership makes possible—one patient, one family, one life fully restored.

To help more patients like Lisi receive the care they deserve, click below to change a life.

Join a Life-Changing Medical Mission!

We urgently need volunteers in clinical roles for medical missions this summer. Every role matters and makes One World Surgery's mission possible! Ready to get involved? Click the buttons below to get started!

Volunteer Highlight

Dr. Rapp Spent 25 Years Asking One Question:

Where Can I Do the Most Good?

Dr. David Rapp didn't set out to change the world. He set out to find where he could make the biggest difference.

His first medical mission to Honduras was in 2000. What he found there never left him—not the scale of unmet need, but the extraordinary determination of ordinary people working against formidable odds. He kept coming back.

As a Professor of Urology at the University of Virginia and a fellowship-trained pelvic floor reconstruction specialist, Dr. Rapp understood something that doesn't make headlines but quietly devastates families: when a mother loses her health, an entire household loses its foundation.

Pelvic floor disorders—conditions commonly affecting women who have given birth—carry consequences far beyond the physical. They affect a woman's ability to work, to move through the world with confidence, and to show up fully for the people who depend on her.

Dr. Rapp's work is driven by this simple but powerful conviction: access to urological and urogynecological care is not a luxury, but a fundamental right that singlehandedly changes the trajectory of a woman's health and independence. This belief led him to found Global Surgical Expedition, and ultimately to this partnership with One World Surgery.

His vision extends beyond surgical missions. He is committed to building lasting infrastructure in Honduras—the right equipment, protocols, and training —so that local providers can one day deliver pelvic floor therapy without surgical intervention at all. Because the most powerful solutions, Dr. Rapp believes, are the ones that no longer need him.

Learn more about OWS's Medical Mission program at oneworldsurgery.org.

Values Hero of the Month

He Came to Give. He Left Forever Changed.



Aidan Macpherson thought he knew what a gap year looked like. Then he found himself face to face with patients whose stories would change his own.

As OWS's Research Coordinator, Aidan spent 13 months tracking patient outcomes, modernizing surgical instrument systems, and assessing the global surgical landscape across Honduras and other developing nations. Important work. Meaningful work. But it was the in-patient surveys that changed him.

What began as clinical patient surveys would quietly shift into something far more personal. Patients sharing fears. Hopes. Gratitude. As a future physician, Aidan discovered what no classroom can teach: healing is never just physical.

Then, there were the children of the NPH community. No matter what the day held, their presence had an uncanny ability to shift everything, lifting his mood and perspective in ways he never anticipated.

"You gain so much more from volunteering than you ever give."

This fall, Aidan heads to Tulane Medical School, carrying something no curriculum could have given him: a deeper understanding of what it means to truly serve.

Aidan is uplifting our values of Compassion and Spirit of Service.

Inspired by Aidan's story? Learn how you can give your time and talent as a 13-month volunteer by visiting oneworldsurgery.org. Applications accepted through Sept. 30.