December 2025

Dear friends,

December is a good time to reflect on all we have accomplished through collaboration this year. In 2025, we opened eight new projects in seven countries; 308 volunteers completed 360 assignments; virtual volunteers completed over 1,300 hours of e-learning; and HVO awarded over 20 scholarships and fellowships. And there is so much more not captured in numbers – a cancer patient given life-saving treatment after a volunteer-run tumor board discussion; a young woman with cerebral hemorrhaging saved by residents who recognized symptoms because of volunteer training; a hospital in Nepal revolutionizing patient care with donated bedside ultrasound machines and training provided by volunteers. Every health worker trained, every life saved, every community strengthened – these are successes we have achieved together.

As we close out a fraught year for global health aid, we need your help now more than ever. HVO has always relied on the generosity of our community. Nearly 90% of our funds come from individuals like you. Your gifts save lives. Thank you all for yet another wonderful and inspiring year. I look forward to connecting with you in 2026. 

Sincerely,

April

April Pinner, MSPH, RD

Executive Director

An investment in HVO is an investment in health workers, their communities, and their patients. 

The HVO Community

“A 19-year-old girl came to us with large ovarian masses. The initial tests suggested an aggressive cancer that might have spread from another part of the body. Despite extensive investigations, the results were not fully consistent, and her future looked uncertain. Through our tumor board discussion with HVO volunteers, we were advised to perform additional specialized testing. This changed the diagnosis to a rare type of ovarian tumor called a sex cord stromal tumor. With this corrected diagnosis, we were able to give her the right chemotherapy, and she responded very well. One year later, she is doing well and has no evidence of disease. This case is a strong example of how virtual collaboration can make a life-changing difference for patients.”

- Soniya Dulal, oncology, Nepal

“My introduction to Betty Beard, a nursing professor and dedicated volunteer of Health Volunteers Overseas, occurred in 2018, a meeting that I consider pivotal in my career. Her mentorship instilled in me the confidence to apply for a PhD scholarship, solidifying my commitment to advancing my education and contribution to the field of nursing. 

The pursuit of my PhD has been transformative. It has not only broadened my understanding of nursing and healthcare but also opened doors to leadership opportunities within my department. This advanced education has allowed me to inspire and encourage my colleagues to pursue higher education and strive for excellence in healthcare. Consequently, the impact of my PhD journey extends beyond my personal growth, influencing the department in which I work, as we collectively endeavor to provide higher quality healthcare services. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the partnership with HVO and the invaluable support and expertise provided by volunteers like Betty Beard. I look forward to continuing my journey in health care, enriched by the knowledge and experiences gained through this association.”

- Dr. Phung Van Du, nursing

“HVO is a very amazing program that gives you a great opportunity to learn and work with expert, specialist doctors from overseas. Through HVO, I met my mentor, Professor Mark Duster, a cardiologist. He came to Cambodia and AHC for one month each year between 2017 and 2020 to help me with the subspecialty pediatric cardiology curriculum. With HVO support, I also got a chance to take an echocardiography course in Hanoi, Vietnam. We are still keeping up good discussions about difficult congenital heart disease cases. I am very grateful for the opportunity that HVO and Dr. Mark Duster have given me. Last May-June, I went to Laos Friend Hospital for Children in Luang Prabang as a volunteer to share my knowledge and to help a junior colleague with subspecialty cardiology training. Sharing knowledge is a very important part of helping the health care service in every developing country.” 

- Dr. Hok Kimseng, internal medicine/cardiology 

“There are often organizations or projects that come in and say, ‘You need to do this,’ and then they aren’t successful because the partner doesn’t buy in or doesn’t think the proposed changes are right for them for reasons we might not understand. A willingness to listen to partners and not impose goals on them is important—we want to help them further their own goals. HVO is unique in that they don’t impose. They don’t come in and tell a program, ‘This is what we’re doing.’ They help the hospital determine what they actually want help with. This improves communication and gets things going more quickly.”

- Dr. Leslee Jaeger, OB-Gyn

“Having partners like HVO, we can help them where they are currently short on faculty. All it takes is to train a few. If you can keep some on board, then they can go on to train more.”

- Dr. David Ciesla, oral health

“I think the connections with the students, despite the language barrier, and the depth of the topics had a big impact on me. I had done service travel before and taught physical therapy topics in the clinic, but the fact that those two things were so easily combined was meaningful to my career and future self. I was surprised at how easily I was able to connect with the students over our shared knowledge and passion for physical therapy despite so many differences.”

- Madeline Hines, rehabilitation

Golden Apple Nominations

The HVO Golden Apple Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to HVO’s mission, organization, and project sites. Anyone who knows of an HVO contributor’s work is welcome to nominate them for the recognition.

HVO's Wyss Scholarship

The Wyss Scholarship defrays travel or registration costs for health care providers and educators working at HVO partner institutions to pursue professional development or continuing education opportunities. 


The deadline to apply for this cycle is January 15, 2026.

AFSH Applications Open

HVO is accepting applications for the 2025 American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand - Health Volunteers Overseas Young Surgeon Traveling Fellowship. Fellows receive funding to defray the cost of airfare, room, and board for a two-to-four-week volunteer trip to an appropriate HVO teaching site. Eligible applicants include surgeons who are currently in a hand fellowship program or who have completed their fellowship within the last four years. Applicants should not have been in practice for more than five years and must be a US or Canadian citizen.

All applications must be received by close of business US Eastern Time on December 12, 2025.

This fellowship is available due to a generous grant from the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand (AFSH).

To learn more and apply, visit our website or click here to access the application directly. Questions can be emailed to Andrea Moody.

LFHC Looking for Hospital Director

Lao Friends Hospital for Children is hiring for the position of Director of Hospital Services. This is a full-time paid position located in Luang Prabang, Laos. The DHS supervises the entire clinical aspects of the hospital (physicians and nurses included) with a mix of clinical shifts in the outpatient department, emergency department, inpatient department, High Acuity Unit and neonatal unit as well as oversees the administration functions working closely with the Director of Admin.

The ideal candidate would be able to commit to a two-year term in the role and would have experience with hospital administration, leadership, and pediatrics.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Directly supervise the medical director, medical education director, director of nursing, admin director, director of prevention and outreach coordinator
• Develop leadership within the Lao clinical and administrative team to enable sustainable local management to occur within the hospital
• Take charge of the hospital quality of care framework design and implementation (in close collaboration with the Medical Director and the Nursing Director) for the development and monitoring of a hospital quality assurance system which allows the assessment and improvement of the quality of health care provided by the LFHC team
• Ensure LFHC has a coordinated multidisciplinary clinical team that provides compassionate, safe and effective clinical care to children

For the full job description, please contact Emily Dalton.

Volunteer Opportunities

Dermatology, Vietnam is recruiting in-person volunteers with expertise in dermatopathology, dermatological research, and pediatric dermatology. Interested volunteers should contact Natalie Cary. 

Nutrition, Cambodia is recruiting dedicated health care professionals, including dietitians, nurses, nurse practitioners, speech language pathologists, physician assistants, doctors, and other relevant clinicians with expertise in diabetes, lactation, feeding skills, oncology nutrition, gastroenterology, children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and more. Volunteers are needed for both virtual and in-person assignments. Interested volunteers should contact Lauren Franklin.

Oral Health, Tanzania is recruiting dentists for in-person and virtual assignments to support didactic lectures, clinical training, and curriculum development. Priority specialties include endodontics, surgical endodontics, periodontics, surgical periodontics, implantology, restorative dentistry (including cosmetic), orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, oral surgery, and digital dentistry. Interested volunteers should contact Lauren Franklin.

Oral Health, Uganda is recruiting pediatric dentists for in-person assignments to support didactic lectures, clinical training, and curriculum development, with interest in research.  Interested volunteers should contact Lauren Franklin.

Orthopaedics, Ghana is recruiting in-person volunteers specializing in sports medicine and arthroscopy, pediatrics surgery, arthroplasty and joints reconstruction, and spine. Interested volunteers should contact Natalie Cary.